HeuvsHitWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,327
“Heu” frequency rank
#5,605
“Hit” frequency rank
22932
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Heu Hit
Definition getrocknetes Gras; in der Sprache der Landwirtschaft insbesondere der erste Grasschnitt sehr erfolgreiches Produkt

Where the eye mixes Heu and Hit

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

3 ch
Heu
3 ch
Hit

Look-alike desk: Heu vs Hit

A purely visual mix-up. Heu ([hɔɪ̯]) and Hit ([hɪt]) 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 22932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Heu is recorded at frequency rank #17,327, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɔɪ̯]. Hit is at rank #5,605, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɪt].

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 22932, this pair ranks #1,867,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Heu vs Hit

Shared letters: h. Private to "Heu": eu. Private to "Hit": it.

"Heu" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "Hit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Heu" for "Hit" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([hɔɪ̯] versus [hɪt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Heu" or "Hit" show up more?
"Hit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,605 in our German list, against #17,327 for "Heu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Heu" and "Hit" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Heu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,867,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Heu" and "Hit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs Heu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,867,862 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