hacktvsHeckeTell them apart

Quick tell: hackt is a verb, Hecke is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hackt” is a verb and “Hecke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,598
“hackt” frequency rank
#22,008
“Hecke” frequency rank
52606
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hackt Hecke
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hacken Aufwuchs dicht beieinander stehender und stark verzweigter Sträucher oder Büsche

Where the eye mixes hackt and Hecke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
hackt
5 ch
Hecke

Why the eye confuses hackt with Hecke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hackt is [hakt] while Hecke is [ˈhɛkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hackt is recorded at frequency rank #30,598, classified as averb, pronounced [hakt]. Hecke is at rank #22,008, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛkə].

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 52606, this pair ranks #1,090,254 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hackt vs Hecke

Shared letters: chk. Private to "hackt": at. Private to "Hecke": e.

"hackt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Hecke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hacktahckt · hacckt · hackkt · hacktt · hactk · hakct · hcakt · hhackt
  • Heckeehcke · hceke · heccke · hecek · heckke · hekce · hhecke

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hackt" for "Hecke" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hackt" is a verb and "Hecke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "hackt" vs "Hecke" - which ranks higher?
"Hecke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,008 in our German list, against #30,598 for "hackt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "hackt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hecke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,090,254 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hackt" and "Hecke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hackt vs hallt". 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 #1,090,254 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