Which to use
“heben” and “holen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,603
- “heben” frequency rank
- #1,328
- “holen” frequency rank
- 6931
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heben | holen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | auf größere Höhe bringen | etwas oder jemanden herbeischaffen |
Where the eye mixes heben and holen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: heben vs holen
A purely visual mix-up. heben ([ˈheːbn̩]) and holen ([ˈhoːlən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6931, 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]. holen is at rank #1,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhoːlən].
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 6931, this pair ranks #1,989,983 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of heben vs holen
Shared letters: ehn. Private to "heben": b. Private to "holen": lo.
"heben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "holen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "heben" for "holen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "heben" vs "holen" - which ranks higher?
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 "heben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,989,983 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heben" and "holen" 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 #1,989,983 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.