hinktvshinzuTell them apart

Quick tell: hinkt is a verb, hinzu is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#26,051
“hinkt” frequency rank
#1,735
“hinzu” frequency rank
27786
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hinkt hinzu
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hinken (noch) zusätzlich zu einer Sache, einem Vorgang, einem Zustand

Where the eye mixes hinkt and hinzu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hinkt (CVCCC) and hinzu (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
hinkt
5 ch
hinzu

Visual trap between hinkt and hinzu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hinkt is [hɪŋkt] while hinzu is [hɪnˈt͡suː]. 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 (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hinkt is recorded at frequency rank #26,051, classified as averb, pronounced [hɪŋkt]. 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 27786, this pair ranks #1,795,926 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hinkt vs hinzu

Shared letters: hin. Private to "hinkt": kt. Private to "hinzu": uz.

"hinkt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "hinzu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinkt ← hhinkt · hiknt · hinkkt · hinktt · hinnkt · hintk · hnikt · ihnkt
  • hinzu ← hhinzu · hinnzu · hinuz · hinzzu · hiznu · hnizu · ihnzu

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hinkt" and "hinzu" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hinkt" is a verb and "hinzu" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "hinkt" vs "hinzu" - which ranks higher?
"hinzu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,735 in our German list, against #26,051 for "hinkt". 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 "hinkt" 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 #1,795,926 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hinkt" and "hinzu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hindi vs hinkt". 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 #1,795,926 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