Which to use
“hilft” and “hofft” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #994
- “hilft” frequency rank
- #6,669
- “hofft” frequency rank
- 7663
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hilft | hofft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs helfen | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hoffen |
Where the eye mixes hilft and hofft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hilft with hofft
A purely visual mix-up. hilft ([hɪlft]) and hofft ([hɔft]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hilft is recorded at frequency rank #994, classified as averb, pronounced [hɪlft]. hofft is at rank #6,669, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɔft].
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 7663, this pair ranks #1,987,370 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hilft vs hofft
Shared letters: fht. Private to "hilft": il. Private to "hofft": o.
"hilft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "hofft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hilft" and "hofft" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hilft" or "hofft"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hilft" and "hofft" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hilft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hofft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,987,370 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hilft" and "hofft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoffst vs hofft". 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 #1,987,370 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.