hebtvshurtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,377
“hebt” frequency rank
#43,976
“hurt” frequency rank
49353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hebt hurt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs heben 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs huren

Where the eye mixes hebt and hurt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
hebt
4 ch
hurt

Why the eye confuses hebt with hurt

A purely visual mix-up. hebt ([heːpt]) and hurt ([huːɐ̯t]) 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 49353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hebt is recorded at frequency rank #5,377, classified as averb, pronounced [heːpt]. hurt is at rank #43,976, tagged as averb, pronounced [huːɐ̯t].

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 49353, this pair ranks #1,214,704 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hebt vs hurt

Shared letters: ht. Private to "hebt": be. Private to "hurt": ru.

"hebt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hurt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hebtehbt · hbet · hebbt · hebtt · hetb · hhebt
  • hurthhurt · hrut · hurrt · hurtt · hutr · uhrt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hebt" and "hurt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([heːpt] versus [huːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hebt" vs "hurt" - which ranks higher?
"hebt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,377 in our German list, against #43,976 for "hurt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hebt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hurt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,214,704 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hebt" and "hurt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hum vs hurt". 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 #1,214,704 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