zusammenhaltenvszusammenhängenConfusable pair

Which to use

“zusammenhalten” and “zusammenhängen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,007
“zusammenhalten” frequency rank
#13,530
“zusammenhängen” frequency rank
38537
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zusammenhalten zusammenhängen
Definition eine untrennbare Einheit bilden seinen Grund in etwas haben; in einer Beziehung zu etwas anderem, Genannten stehen; so miteinander verbunden sein, dass eine wechselseitige Abhängigkeit vorhanden ist

Where the eye mixes zusammenhalten and zusammenhängen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. zusammenhalten and zusammenhängen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

14 ch
zusammenhalten
14 ch
zusammenhängen

Visual trap between zusammenhalten and zusammenhängen

A purely visual mix-up. zusammenhalten ([t͡suˈzamənˌhaltn̩]) and zusammenhängen ([t͡suˈzamənˌhɛŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38537, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zusammenhalten is recorded at frequency rank #25,007, classified as averb, pronounced [t͡suˈzamənˌhaltn̩]. zusammenhängen is at rank #13,530, tagged as averb, pronounced [t͡suˈzamənˌhɛŋən].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 38537, this pair ranks #1,561,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zusammenhalten vs zusammenhängen

Shared letters: aehmnsuz. Private to "zusammenhalten": lt. Private to "zusammenhängen": gä.

"zusammenhalten" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVCCVC  ·  "zusammenhängen" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zusammenhalten ← uzsammenhalten · zsuammenhalten · zuasmmenhalten · zusamemnhalten · zusamenhalten · zusammehnalten · zusammenahlten · zusammenhaletn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "zusammenhalten" and "zusammenhängen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t͡suˈzamənˌhaltn̩] versus [t͡suˈzamənˌhɛŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "zusammenhalten" or "zusammenhängen" show up more?
"zusammenhängen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,530 in our German list, against #25,007 for "zusammenhalten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "zusammenhalten" and "zusammenhängen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zusammenhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zusammenhängen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,561,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zusammenhalten" and "zusammenhängen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zusammengehalten vs zusammenhalten". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,561,338 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list