hilfstvshilftConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#26,913
“hilfst” frequency rank
#994
“hilft” frequency rank
27907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hilfst hilft
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs helfen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs helfen

Where the eye mixes hilfst and hilft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. hilfst runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against hilft's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
hilfst
5 ch
hilft

Why the eye confuses hilfst with hilft

A purely visual mix-up. hilfst ([hɪlfst]) and hilft ([hɪlft]) 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 27907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hilfst is recorded at frequency rank #26,913, classified as averb, pronounced [hɪlfst]. 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 27907, this pair ranks #1,793,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hilfst vs hilft

Shared letters: fhilt. Private to "hilfst": s. Private to "hilft": -.

"hilfst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "hilft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hilfst ← hhilfst · hiflst · hilffst · hilfsst · hilfstt · hilfts · hillfst · hilsft
  • hilft ← hhilft · hiflt · hilfft · hilftt · hillft · hiltf · hlift · ihlft

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hilfst" and "hilft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([hɪlfst] versus [hɪlft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hilfst" or "hilft"?
"hilft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #994 in our German list, against #26,913 for "hilfst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "hilfst" and "hilft" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hilfst" 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 #1,793,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hilfst" and "hilft" 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 #1,793,848 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