hetvshetzeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: het is a determiner, hetze is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“het” is a determiner and “hetze” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,178
“het” frequency rank
#9,045
“hetze” frequency rank
25223
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature het hetze
Definition definiter (bestimmter) Artikel neutrum; das 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hetzen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set het and hetze apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
het
5 ch
hetze

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

het and hetze form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “het” sits inside “hetze” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

het is recorded at frequency rank #16,178, classified as adet, pronounced [(h)ət]. hetze is at rank #9,045, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛt͡sə].

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 25223, this pair ranks #1,836,367 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

het#16,178
hetze#9,045

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "het" and "hetze" be used interchangeably?
No, "het" and "hetze" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering het vs hetze

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “het”; for a verb, it's “hetze”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “het” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list