hegtvshejConfusable pair

Quick tell: hegt is a verb, hej is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hegt” is a verb and “hej” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,588
“hegt” frequency rank
#48,213
“hej” frequency rank
73801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hegt hej
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hegen informelle Grußformel

Where the eye mixes hegt and hej

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hegt runs 4 letters (CVCC) against hej's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
hegt
3 ch
hej

Why the eye confuses hegt with hej

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hegt is [heːkt] while hej is [haɪ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73801, 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]. hej is at rank #48,213, tagged as anintj, pronounced [haɪ].

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 73801, this pair ranks #350,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hegt vs hej

Shared letters: eh. Private to "hegt": gt. Private to "hej": j.

"hegt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hej" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hegt ← ehgt · heggt · hegtt · hetg · hget · hhegt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hegt" and "hej" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hegt" is a verb and "hej" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hegt" or "hej"?
"hegt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,588 in our German list, against #48,213 for "hej". 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 "hegt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hej" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #350,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hegt" and "hej" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hej". 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 #350,617 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