Which to use
“hel” and “hells” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,474
- “hel” frequency rank
- #34,160
- “hells” frequency rank
- 81634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hel | hells |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Helium | Plural des Substantivs hell |
Where the eye mixes hel and hells
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hel vs hells
A purely visual mix-up. hel ([xɛl]) and hells ([hɛlz]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hel” sits inside “hells”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hel is recorded at frequency rank #47,474, classified as anoun, pronounced [xɛl]. hells is at rank #34,160, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛlz].
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 81634, this pair ranks #172,054 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hel vs hells
Shared letters: ehl. Private to "hel": -. Private to "hells": s.
"hel" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hells" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hells ← ehlls · hellss · helsl · hhells · hlels
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hel" for "hells" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hel" or "hells" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hel" and "hells" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hells" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,054 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hel" and "hells" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hel". 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 #172,054 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.