HälftevsHüfteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#905
“Hälfte” frequency rank
#12,511
“Hüfte” frequency rank
13416
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hälfte Hüfte
Definition einer von zwei gleich großen Anteilen die seitliche Körperpartie unterhalb der Taille auf Höhe des Beckengürtels

Where the eye mixes Hälfte and Hüfte

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

6 ch
Hälfte
5 ch
Hüfte

Look-alike desk: Hälfte vs Hüfte

A purely visual mix-up. Hälfte ([ˈhɛlftə]) and Hüfte ([ˈhʏftə]) 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 13416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hälfte is recorded at frequency rank #905, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛlftə]. Hüfte is at rank #12,511, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʏftə].

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 13416, this pair ranks #1,958,135 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hälfte vs Hüfte

Shared letters: efht. Private to "Hälfte": lä. Private to "Hüfte": ü.

"Hälfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "Hüfte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hälfte" for "Hüfte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛlftə] versus [ˈhʏftə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hälfte" vs "Hüfte" - which ranks higher?
"Hälfte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #905 in our German list, against #12,511 for "Hüfte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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 "Hüfte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,135 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hälfte" and "Hüfte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hegte vs Hüfte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,958,135 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