hinvshobTell them apart

Quick tell: hin is a adverb, hob is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hin” is an adverb and “hob” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#327
“hin” frequency rank
#5,380
“hob” frequency rank
5707
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hin hob
Definition drückt die Richtung zu einer bestimmten Stelle oder einem Zeitpunkt aus 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs heben

Where the eye mixes hin and hob

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
hin
3 ch
hob

Why the eye confuses hin with hob

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hin is [hɪn] while hob is [hoːp]. 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 (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5707, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hin is recorded at frequency rank #327, classified as anadv, pronounced [hɪn]. hob is at rank #5,380, tagged as averb, pronounced [hoːp].

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 5707, this pair ranks #1,993,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hin vs hob

Shared letters: h. Private to "hin": in. Private to "hob": bo.

"hin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hob" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hin" and "hob" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hin" is an adverb and "hob" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "hin" vs "hob" - which ranks higher?
"hin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #327 in our German list, against #5,380 for "hob". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hob" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hin" and "hob" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hob vs höh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,993,974 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