HildavshilfWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Hilda is a name, hilf is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Hilda” is a name and “hilf” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,686
“Hilda” frequency rank
#10,298
“hilf” frequency rank
54984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hilda hilf
Definition weiblicher Vorname 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs helfen

Letter map: Hilda vs hilf

Shared letters muted; letters that set Hilda and hilf apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Hilda runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against hilf's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Hilda
4 ch
hilf

Role in the sentence - Hilda and hilf

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Hilda is aname and hilfaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hilda is recorded at frequency rank #44,686, classified as aname, pronounced […]. hilf is at rank #10,298, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɪlf].

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 54984, this pair ranks #997,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hilda vs hilf

Shared letters: hil. Private to "Hilda": ad. Private to "hilf": f.

"Hilda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hilf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hildahhilda · hidla · hilad · hildda · hillda · hlida · ihlda
  • hilfhhilf · hifl · hilff · hillf · hlif · ihlf

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hilda" for "hilf" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hilda" is a name and "hilf" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Hilda" or "hilf"?
"hilf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,298 in our German list, against #44,686 for "Hilda". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "Hilda" vs "hilf" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hilda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hilf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #997,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hilda" and "hilf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hilda vs puzzles". 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 #997,260 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