HafensvsHofesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,598
“Hafens” frequency rank
#18,928
“Hofes” frequency rank
50526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hafens Hofes
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Hafen Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Hof

Where the eye mixes Hafens and Hofes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hafens runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against Hofes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Hafens
5 ch
Hofes

Look-alike desk: Hafens vs Hofes

A purely visual mix-up. Hafens ([ˈhaːfn̩s]) and Hofes ([ˈhoːfəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hafens is recorded at frequency rank #31,598, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːfn̩s]. Hofes is at rank #18,928, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhoːfəs].

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 50526, this pair ranks #1,170,375 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hafens vs Hofes

Shared letters: efhs. Private to "Hafens": an. Private to "Hofes": o.

"Hafens" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Hofes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hafens ← ahfens · haefns · hafenns · hafenss · hafesn · haffens · hafnes · hfaens
  • Hofes ← hfoes · hhofes · hoefs · hofess · hoffes · hofse · ohfes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hafens" for "Hofes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaːfn̩s] versus [ˈhoːfəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hafens" or "Hofes"?
"Hofes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,928 in our German list, against #31,598 for "Hafens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hafens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hofes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,170,375 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hafens" and "Hofes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hafens vs Haien". 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 #1,170,375 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