hilfstvsholstTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,913
“hilfst” frequency rank
#16,732
“holst” frequency rank
43645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hilfst holst
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs helfen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs holen

Where the eye mixes hilfst and holst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hilfst runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against holst's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
hilfst
5 ch
holst

Visual trap between hilfst and holst

A purely visual mix-up. hilfst ([hɪlfst]) and holst ([hoːlst]) 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 43645, 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]. holst is at rank #16,732, tagged as averb, pronounced [hoːlst].

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 43645, this pair ranks #1,411,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hilfst vs holst

Shared letters: hlst. Private to "hilfst": fi. Private to "holst": o.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hilfst ← hhilfst · hiflst · hilffst · hilfsst · hilfstt · hilfts · hillfst · hilsft
  • holst ← hholst · hlost · hollst · holsst · holstt · holts · hoslt · ohlst

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hilfst" and "holst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([hɪlfst] versus [hoːlst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "hilfst" or "holst" show up more?
"holst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,732 in our German list, against #26,913 for "hilfst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "hilfst" and "holst" 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 "holst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,411,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hilfst" and "holst" 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 #1,411,462 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