Which to use
“hielte” and “holte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,683
- “hielte” frequency rank
- #4,359
- “holte” frequency rank
- 49042
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hielte | holte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs halten | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs holen |
Where the eye mixes hielte and holte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hielte runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against holte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: hielte vs holte
A purely visual mix-up. hielte ([ˈhiːltə]) and holte ([ˈhoːltə]) 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 49042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hielte is recorded at frequency rank #44,683, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhiːltə]. holte is at rank #4,359, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhoːltə].
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 49042, this pair ranks #1,226,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hielte vs holte
Shared letters: ehlt. Private to "hielte": i. Private to "holte": o.
"hielte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "holte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hielte" for "holte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hielte" or "holte"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hielte" and "holte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hielte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,226,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hielte" and "holte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hegte vs hielte". 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 #1,226,224 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.