Which to use
“hegt” and “hegte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,588
- “hegt” frequency rank
- #48,210
- “hegte” frequency rank
- 73798
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hegt | hegte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hegen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hegen |
Where the eye mixes hegt and hegte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hegt runs 4 letters (CVCC) 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 hegt with hegte
A purely visual mix-up. hegt ([heːkt]) 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 extra letter(s) - “hegt” sits inside “hegte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73798, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hegt is recorded at frequency rank #25,588, classified as averb, pronounced [heːkt]. 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 73798, this pair ranks #350,703 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hegt vs hegte
Shared letters: eght. Private to "hegt": -. Private to "hegte": -.
"hegt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hegte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hegt" for "hegte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hegt" or "hegte" show up more?
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 "hegt" 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 #350,703 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hegt" 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 #350,703 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.