HildavshilftTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#44,686
“Hilda” frequency rank
#994
“hilft” frequency rank
45680
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hilda hilft
Definition weiblicher Vorname 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs helfen

Letter map: Hilda vs hilft

Shared letters muted; letters that set Hilda and hilft apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Hilda (CVCCV) and hilft (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Hilda
5 ch
hilft

Grammar separator: Hilda vs hilft

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Hilda is aname and hilftaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hilda is recorded at frequency rank #44,686, classified as aname, pronounced […]. hilft is at rank #994, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɪlft].

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 45680, this pair ranks #1,344,788 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hilda vs hilft

Shared letters: hil. Private to "Hilda": ad. Private to "hilft": ft.

"Hilda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hilft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hilda ← hhilda · hidla · hilad · hildda · hillda · hlida · ihlda
  • hilft ← hhilft · hiflt · hilfft · hilftt · hillft · hiltf · hlift · ihlft

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hilda" and "hilft" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hilda" is a name and "hilft" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Hilda" or "hilft" show up more?
"hilft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #994 in our German list, against #44,686 for "Hilda". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pair "Hilda" vs "hilft" 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 "hilft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,344,788 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hilda" and "hilft" 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 #1,344,788 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