hinsehenvshinziehenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,295
“hinsehen” frequency rank
#30,115
“hinziehen” frequency rank
50410
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hinsehen hinziehen
Definition den Blick auf ein bestimmtes Ziel richten an einem bestimmten Ort seinen Wohnsitz einrichten; seinen Wohnsitz zu einem bestimmten Ort hin wechseln

Where the eye mixes hinsehen and hinziehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. hinsehen runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against hinziehen's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
hinsehen
9 ch
hinziehen

Look-alike desk: hinsehen vs hinziehen

A purely visual mix-up. hinsehen ([ˈhɪnˌzeːən]) and hinziehen ([ˈhɪnˌt͡siːən]) 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 50410, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hinsehen is recorded at frequency rank #20,295, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪnˌzeːən]. hinziehen is at rank #30,115, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪnˌt͡siːən].

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 50410, this pair ranks #1,174,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hinsehen vs hinziehen

Shared letters: ehin. Private to "hinsehen": s. Private to "hinziehen": z.

"hinsehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "hinziehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinsehen ← hhinsehen · hineshen · hinnsehen · hinseehn · hinsehenn · hinsehhen · hinsehne · hinsheen
  • hinziehen ← hhinziehen · hinizehen · hinnziehen · hinzeihen · hinzieehn · hinziehenn · hinziehhen · hinziehne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hinsehen" and "hinziehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɪnˌzeːən] versus [ˈhɪnˌt͡siːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hinsehen" vs "hinziehen" - which ranks higher?
"hinsehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,295 in our German list, against #30,115 for "hinziehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "hinsehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hinziehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,174,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hinsehen" and "hinziehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinziehen 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 #1,174,694 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