Which to use
“Hälfte” is a noun and “hoffte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #905
- “Hälfte” frequency rank
- #10,873
- “hoffte” frequency rank
- 11778
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hälfte | hoffte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einer von zwei gleich großen Anteilen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hoffen |
Where the eye mixes Hälfte and hoffte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Hälfte and hoffte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hälfte is [ˈhɛlftə] while hoffte is [ˈhɔftə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hälfte is recorded at frequency rank #905, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛlftə]. hoffte is at rank #10,873, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɔftə].
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 11778, this pair ranks #1,967,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hälfte vs hoffte
Shared letters: efht. Private to "Hälfte": lä. Private to "hoffte": o.
"Hälfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "hoffte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- hoffte ← hfofte · hhoffte · hoffet · hofftte · hofte · hoftfe · ohffte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hälfte" for "hoffte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Hälfte" vs "hoffte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hälfte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hoffte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,967,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hälfte" and "hoffte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoffst vs hoffte". 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 #1,967,952 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.