Which to use
“heben” and “heilen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,603
- “heben” frequency rank
- #7,930
- “heilen” frequency rank
- 13533
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heben | heilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | auf größere Höhe bringen | jemanden gesund machen, eine Krankheit, ein Leiden beseitigen, heil machen |
Where the eye mixes heben and heilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. heben runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against heilen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: heben vs heilen
A purely visual mix-up. heben ([ˈheːbn̩]) and heilen ([ˈhaɪ̯lən]) 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 13533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heben is recorded at frequency rank #5,603, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈheːbn̩]. heilen is at rank #7,930, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lən].
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 13533, this pair ranks #1,957,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of heben vs heilen
Shared letters: ehn. Private to "heben": b. Private to "heilen": il.
"heben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "heilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "heben" and "heilen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "heben" vs "heilen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "heben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heben" and "heilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heben vs Hemer". 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 #1,957,378 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.