HeutevsHexeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#127
“Heute” frequency rank
#11,254
“Hexe” frequency rank
11381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Heute Hexe
Definition Gegenwart, die heutige Zeit (Zeit in der wir leben) weibliches, bösgesinntes und dämonisches Märchen- oder Sagenwesen zumeist in Gestalt einer hässlichen, zauberkräftigen Greisin mit einem Buckel und einer langen, krummen Nase, die Schadenszauber auf den Menschen ausüben kann und mit dem Teufel durch einen Pakt oder Buhlschaft verbündet ist

Where the eye mixes Heute and Hexe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Heute
4 ch
Hexe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Heute ([ˈhɔɪ̯tə]) and Hexe ([ˈhɛksə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Heute is recorded at frequency rank #127, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɔɪ̯tə]. Hexe is at rank #11,254, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛksə].

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 11381, this pair ranks #1,970,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Heute vs Hexe

Shared letters: eh. Private to "Heute": tu. Private to "Hexe": x.

"Heute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Hexe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Heuteehute · hetue · heuet · heutte · hheute · huete
  • Hexeehxe · heex · hexxe · hhexe · hxee

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Heute" and "Hexe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɔɪ̯tə] versus [ˈhɛksə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Heute" or "Hexe"?
"Heute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #127 in our German list, against #11,254 for "Hexe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list