hinvshinzuWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#327
“hin” frequency rank
#1,735
“hinzu” frequency rank
2062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hin hinzu
Definition drückt die Richtung zu einer bestimmten Stelle oder einem Zeitpunkt aus (noch) zusätzlich zu einer Sache, einem Vorgang, einem Zustand

Where the eye mixes hin and hinzu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
hin
5 ch
hinzu

Why the eye confuses hin with hinzu

A purely visual mix-up. hin ([hɪn]) and hinzu ([hɪnˈt͡suː]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hin” sits inside “hinzu”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hin is recorded at frequency rank #327, classified as anadv, pronounced [hɪn]. hinzu is at rank #1,735, tagged as anadv, pronounced [hɪnˈt͡suː].

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 2062, this pair ranks #2,003,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hin vs hinzu

Shared letters: hin. Private to "hin": -. Private to "hinzu": uz.

"hin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hinzu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinzuhhinzu · hinnzu · hinuz · hinzzu · hiznu · hnizu · ihnzu

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hin" and "hinzu" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hɪn] versus [hɪnˈt͡suː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "hin" or "hinzu" show up more?
"hin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #327 in our German list, against #1,735 for "hinzu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hinzu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,003,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hin" and "hinzu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hin vs höh". 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 #2,003,186 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