Which to use
“Hilfen” is a noun and “hilfst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,255
- “Hilfen” frequency rank
- #26,913
- “hilfst” frequency rank
- 38168
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hilfen | hilfst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hilfe | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs helfen |
Where the eye mixes Hilfen and hilfst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hilfen (CVCCVC) and hilfst (CVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Hilfen and hilfst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hilfen is [ˈhɪlfn̩] while hilfst is [hɪlfst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hilfen is recorded at frequency rank #11,255, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪlfn̩]. hilfst is at rank #26,913, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɪlfst].
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 38168, this pair ranks #1,571,076 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hilfen vs hilfst
Shared letters: fhil. Private to "Hilfen": en. Private to "hilfst": st.
"Hilfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hilfst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Hilfen" and "hilfst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Hilfen" or "hilfst" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hilfen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hilfst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,571,076 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hilfen" and "hilfst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hilfst vs hoffst". 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 #1,571,076 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.