Which to use
“helfe” and “henke” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,563
- “helfe” frequency rank
- #35,229
- “henke” frequency rank
- 44792
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | helfe | henke |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs helfen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs henken |
Where the eye mixes helfe and henke
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. helfe and henke follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between helfe and henke
A purely visual mix-up. helfe ([ˈhɛlfə]) and henke ([ˈhɛŋkə]) 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 44792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
helfe is recorded at frequency rank #9,563, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛlfə]. henke is at rank #35,229, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛŋkə].
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 44792, this pair ranks #1,374,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of helfe vs henke
Shared letters: eh. Private to "helfe": fl. Private to "henke": kn.
"helfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "henke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "helfe" and "henke" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "helfe" or "henke" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "helfe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "henke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,374,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "helfe" and "henke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hegte vs henke". 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 #1,374,543 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.