henvsHutTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,162
“hen” frequency rank
#3,321
“Hut” frequency rank
37483
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hen Hut
Definition die Henne, ein weiblicher Vogel an die Kopfform angepasste Kopfbedeckung

Where the eye mixes hen and Hut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
hen
3 ch
Hut

Visual trap between hen and Hut

A purely visual mix-up. hen ([hɛn]) and Hut ([huːt]) 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 37483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hen is recorded at frequency rank #34,162, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɛn]. Hut is at rank #3,321, tagged as anoun, pronounced [huːt].

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 37483, this pair ranks #1,589,031 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hen vs Hut

Shared letters: h. Private to "hen": en. Private to "Hut": tu.

"hen" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Hut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hen" and "Hut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hɛn] versus [huːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hen" vs "Hut" - which ranks higher?
"Hut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,321 in our German list, against #34,162 for "hen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,589,031 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hen" and "Hut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,589,031 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