heilenvsheiserWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: heilen is a verb, heiser is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“heilen” is a verb and “heiser” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,930
“heilen” frequency rank
#37,562
“heiser” frequency rank
45492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature heilen heiser
Definition jemanden gesund machen, eine Krankheit, ein Leiden beseitigen, heil machen rau und/oder tonlos klingend, zumeist durch Überanstrengung oder Krankheit

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
heilen
6 ch
heiser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heilen is [ˈhaɪ̯lən] while heiser is [ˈhaɪ̯zɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

heilen is recorded at frequency rank #7,930, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lən]. heiser is at rank #37,562, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯zɐ].

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 45492, this pair ranks #1,351,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of heilen vs heiser

Shared letters: ehi. Private to "heilen": ln. Private to "heiser": rs.

"heilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "heiser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heilenehilen · heieln · heilenn · heillen · heilne · helien · hheilen · hielen
  • heiserehiser · heiesr · heiserr · heisre · heisser · hesier · hheiser · hieser

Frequency comparison

heilen#7,930
heiser#37,562

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "heilen" and "heiser" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "heilen" is a verb and "heiser" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "heilen" or "heiser"?
"heilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,930 in our German list, against #37,562 for "heiser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering heilen vs heiser

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “heilen”; for an adjective, it's “heiser”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “heilen” 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