hinbekommenvshinzukommenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,165
“hinbekommen” frequency rank
#23,566
“hinzukommen” frequency rank
36731
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hinbekommen hinzukommen
Definition in einen funktionierenden Zustand versetzen hinkommen, um ebenfalls dabei zu sein

Where the eye mixes hinbekommen and hinzukommen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. hinbekommen and hinzukommen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
hinbekommen
11 ch
hinzukommen

Visual trap between hinbekommen and hinzukommen

A purely visual mix-up. hinbekommen ([ˈhɪnbəˌkɔmən]) and hinzukommen ([hɪnˈt͡suːˌkɔmən]) 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 36731, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hinbekommen is recorded at frequency rank #13,165, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪnbəˌkɔmən]. hinzukommen is at rank #23,566, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɪnˈt͡suːˌkɔmən].

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 36731, this pair ranks #1,608,111 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hinbekommen vs hinzukommen

Shared letters: ehikmno. Private to "hinbekommen": b. Private to "hinzukommen": uz.

"hinbekommen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC  ·  "hinzukommen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinbekommen ← hhinbekommen · hibnekommen · hinbbekommen · hinbekkommen · hinbekmomen · hinbekomemn · hinbekomen · hinbekommenn
  • hinzukommen ← hhinzukommen · hinnzukommen · hinuzkommen · hinzkuommen · hinzukkommen · hinzukmomen · hinzukomemn · hinzukomen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hinbekommen" and "hinzukommen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɪnbəˌkɔmən] versus [hɪnˈt͡suːˌkɔmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "hinbekommen" or "hinzukommen" show up more?
"hinbekommen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,165 in our German list, against #23,566 for "hinzukommen". 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 "hinbekommen" and "hinzukommen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hinbekommen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hinzukommen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,608,111 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hinbekommen" and "hinzukommen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinzukommen vs hinzukommt". 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 #1,608,111 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