heilvsheileWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,208
“heil” frequency rank
#17,933
“heile” frequency rank
22141
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature heil heile
Definition nicht zerbrochen; unversehrt; nicht verletzt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs heil

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set heil and heile apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
heil
5 ch
heile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. heil ([haɪ̯l]) and heile ([ˈhaɪ̯lə]) 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) - “heil” sits inside “heile”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

heil is recorded at frequency rank #4,208, classified as anadj, pronounced [haɪ̯l]. heile is at rank #17,933, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lə].

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 22141, this pair ranks #1,877,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of heil vs heile

Shared letters: ehil. Private to "heil": -. Private to "heile": -.

"heil" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "heile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heilehil · heill · hheil · hiel
  • heileehile · heiel · heille · helie · hheile · hiele

Frequency comparison

heil#4,208
heile#17,933

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "heil" and "heile" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([haɪ̯l] versus [ˈhaɪ̯lə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "heil" or "heile"?
"heil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,208 in our German list, against #17,933 for "heile". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering heil vs heile

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “heil” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list