hinausgehenvshinzugehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,616
“hinausgehen” frequency rank
#34,734
“hinzugehen” frequency rank
55350
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hinausgehen hinzugehen
Definition zu Fuß aus dem Inneren von etwas ins Freie bewegen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs hingehen

Where the eye mixes hinausgehen and hinzugehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. hinausgehen runs 11 letters (CVCVVCCVCVC) against hinzugehen's 10 (CVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
hinausgehen
10 ch
hinzugehen

Why the eye confuses hinausgehen with hinzugehen

A purely visual mix-up. hinausgehen ([hɪˈnaʊ̯sˌɡeːən]) and hinzugehen ([ˈhɪnt͡suˌɡeːən]) 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 55350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hinausgehen is recorded at frequency rank #20,616, classified as averb, pronounced [hɪˈnaʊ̯sˌɡeːən]. hinzugehen is at rank #34,734, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪnt͡suˌɡeːən].

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 55350, this pair ranks #983,025 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hinausgehen vs hinzugehen

Shared letters: eghinu. Private to "hinausgehen": as. Private to "hinzugehen": z.

"hinausgehen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCVC  ·  "hinzugehen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinausgehen ← hhinausgehen · hianusgehen · hinasugehen · hinaugsehen · hinauseghen · hinausgeehn · hinausgehenn · hinausgehhen
  • hinzugehen ← hhinzugehen · hinnzugehen · hinuzgehen · hinzguehen · hinzueghen · hinzugeehn · hinzugehenn · hinzugehhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hinausgehen" for "hinzugehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([hɪˈnaʊ̯sˌɡeːən] versus [ˈhɪnt͡suˌɡeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hinausgehen" vs "hinzugehen" - which ranks higher?
"hinausgehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,616 in our German list, against #34,734 for "hinzugehen". 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 "hinausgehen" and "hinzugehen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hinausgehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hinzugehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #983,025 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hinausgehen" and "hinzugehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinzugeben vs hinzugehen". 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 #983,025 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