Which to use
“heile” is an adjective and “Heilige” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,933
- “heile” frequency rank
- #3,127
- “Heilige” frequency rank
- 21060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heile | Heilige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs heil | weibliche, als heilig verehrte Person |
Where the eye mixes heile and Heilige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. heile runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Heilige's 7 (CVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses heile with Heilige
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heile is [ˈhaɪ̯lə] while Heilige is [ˈhaɪ̯lɪɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heile is recorded at frequency rank #17,933, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lə]. Heilige is at rank #3,127, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lɪɡə].
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 21060, this pair ranks #1,890,606 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of heile vs Heilige
Shared letters: ehil. Private to "heile": -. Private to "Heilige": g.
"heile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "Heilige" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "heile" and "Heilige" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "heile" or "Heilige" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "heile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Heilige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,890,606 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heile" and "Heilige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs heile". 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 #1,890,606 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.