HeimenvsHemdenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,157
“Heimen” frequency rank
#15,389
“Hemden” frequency rank
49546
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Heimen Hemden
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Heim Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hemd

Where the eye mixes Heimen and Hemden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Heimen (CVVCVC) and Hemden (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Heimen
6 ch
Hemden

Visual trap between Heimen and Hemden

A purely visual mix-up. Heimen ([ˈhaɪ̯mən]) and Hemden ([ˈhɛmdn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Heimen is recorded at frequency rank #34,157, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯mən]. Hemden is at rank #15,389, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛmdn̩].

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 49546, this pair ranks #1,207,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Heimen vs Hemden

Shared letters: ehmn. Private to "Heimen": i. Private to "Hemden": d.

"Heimen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Hemden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Heimen ← ehimen · heiemn · heimenn · heimmen · heimne · hemien · hheimen · hiemen
  • Hemden ← ehmden · hedmen · hemdden · hemdenn · hemdne · hemedn · hemmden · hhemden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Heimen" for "Hemden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaɪ̯mən] versus [ˈhɛmdn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Heimen" or "Hemden" show up more?
"Hemden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,389 in our German list, against #34,157 for "Heimen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Heimen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hemden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,207,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Heimen" and "Hemden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Heimen vs Hemer". 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 #1,207,422 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