Which to use
“heel” is a noun and “heul” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,960
- “heel” frequency rank
- #33,110
- “heul” frequency rank
- 82070
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heel | heul |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der hintere Teil des Fußes unter dem Knöchel | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs heulen |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set heel and heul apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heel is [hiːl] while heul is [hɔɪ̯l]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “heel” becomes u in “heul”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heel is recorded at frequency rank #48,960, classified as anoun, pronounced [hiːl]. heul is at rank #33,110, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɔɪ̯l].
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 82070, this pair ranks #163,892 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of heel vs heul
Shared letters: ehl. Private to "heel": -. Private to "heul": u.
"heel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "heul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "heel" and "heul" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "heel" or "heul"?
Remembering heel vs heul
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “heel”; for a verb, it's “heul”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “heel” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable