HinspielvsHörspielConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,454
“Hinspiel” frequency rank
#16,735
“Hörspiel” frequency rank
33189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hinspiel Hörspiel
Definition erstes der beiden Spiele zwischen zwei Mannschaften im Rahmen einer Liga oder eines Pokalwettbewerbs ursprünglich dramatische Dichtung für den Hörfunk; heute auch auf anderen Medien wie Schallplatte und CD erhältlich

Where the eye mixes Hinspiel and Hörspiel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Hinspiel and Hörspiel follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Hinspiel
8 ch
Hörspiel

Visual trap between Hinspiel and Hörspiel

A purely visual mix-up. Hinspiel ([ˈhɪnˌʃpiːl]) and Hörspiel ([ˈhøːɐ̯ˌʃpiːl]) 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 33189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hinspiel is recorded at frequency rank #16,454, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪnˌʃpiːl]. Hörspiel is at rank #16,735, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːɐ̯ˌʃpiːl].

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 33189, this pair ranks #1,691,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hinspiel vs Hörspiel

Shared letters: ehilps. Private to "Hinspiel": n. Private to "Hörspiel": rö.

"Hinspiel" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC  ·  "Hörspiel" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hinspiel ← hhinspiel · hinnspiel · hinpsiel · hinsipel · hinspeil · hinspiell · hinspile · hinsppiel

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hinspiel" for "Hörspiel" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɪnˌʃpiːl] versus [ˈhøːɐ̯ˌʃpiːl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hinspiel" vs "Hörspiel" - which ranks higher?
"Hinspiel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,454 in our German list, against #16,735 for "Hörspiel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hinspiel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hörspiel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,691,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hinspiel" and "Hörspiel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hörspiel vs Hörspiele". 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 #1,691,368 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