HefevsHofWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,250
“Hefe” frequency rank
#1,773
“Hof” frequency rank
21023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hefe Hof
Definition einzelliger Pilz (zumeist Saccharomycetaceae aber auch Pichiaceae und Incertae sedis), der sich sexuell und/oder asexuell zumeist durch Sprossung, aber auch durch Spaltung (Schizosaccharomycetaceae), vermehrt umgrenzter Platz, Wirtschafts- und Verkehrsfläche auf einem Grundstück, in der Regel von Gebäuden umschlossen oder hinter, vor oder zwischen Gebäuden gelegen

Where the eye mixes Hefe and Hof

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

4 ch
Hefe
3 ch
Hof

Look-alike desk: Hefe vs Hof

A purely visual mix-up. Hefe ([ˈheːfə]) and Hof ([hoːf]) 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 21023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hefe is recorded at frequency rank #19,250, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈheːfə]. Hof is at rank #1,773, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hoːf].

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 21023, this pair ranks #1,891,040 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hefe vs Hof

Shared letters: fh. Private to "Hefe": e. Private to "Hof": o.

"Hefe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Hof" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hefeehfe · heef · heffe · hfee · hhefe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Hefe" and "Hof" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈheːfə] versus [hoːf]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Hefe" or "Hof" show up more?
"Hof" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,773 in our German list, against #19,250 for "Hefe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hefe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hof" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,891,040 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hefe" and "Hof" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hefe 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 #1,891,040 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