hinvshoiWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: hin is a adverb, hoi is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#327
“hin” frequency rank
#41,901
“hoi” frequency rank
42228
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hin hoi
Definition drückt die Richtung zu einer bestimmten Stelle oder einem Zeitpunkt aus Ausruf des (freudigen) Erstaunens

Where the eye mixes hin and hoi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
hin
3 ch
hoi

Visual trap between hin and hoi

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hin is [hɪn] while hoi is [hɔɪ̯]. 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 intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hin is recorded at frequency rank #327, classified as anadv, pronounced [hɪn]. hoi is at rank #41,901, tagged as anintj, pronounced [hɔɪ̯].

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 42228, this pair ranks #1,455,785 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hin vs hoi

Shared letters: hi. Private to "hin": n. Private to "hoi": o.

"hin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hoi" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hin" for "hoi" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hin" is an adverb and "hoi" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "hin" or "hoi" show up more?
"hin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #327 in our German list, against #41,901 for "hoi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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 "hoi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,455,785 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hin" and "hoi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "höh vs hoi". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,455,785 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