Which to use
“hege” and “hegte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,621
- “hege” frequency rank
- #48,210
- “hegte” frequency rank
- 77831
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hege | hegte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hegen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hegen |
Where the eye mixes hege and hegte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hege runs 4 letters (CVCV) against hegte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hege with hegte
A purely visual mix-up. hege ([ˈheːɡə]) and hegte ([ˈheːktə]) 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 77831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hege is recorded at frequency rank #29,621, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈheːɡə]. hegte is at rank #48,210, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈheːktə].
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 77831, this pair ranks #251,893 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hege vs hegte
Shared letters: egh. Private to "hege": -. Private to "hegte": t.
"hege" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "hegte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hege" and "hegte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "hege" or "hegte" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hegte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #251,893 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hege" and "hegte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hegte vs Hengste". 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 #251,893 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.