Which to use
“Hinweis” is a noun and “hinweisen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,889
- “Hinweis” frequency rank
- #4,996
- “hinweisen” frequency rank
- 6885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hinweis | hinweisen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Handlung, jemanden auf etwas aufmerksam zu machen | jemandem etwas zur Kenntnis bringen; in Erinnerung rufen |
Where the eye mixes Hinweis and hinweisen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Hinweis runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against hinweisen's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Hinweis and hinweisen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hinweis is [ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯s] while hinweisen is [ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯zn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Hinweis” sits inside “hinweisen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hinweis is recorded at frequency rank #1,889, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯s]. hinweisen is at rank #4,996, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯zn̩].
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 6885, this pair ranks #1,990,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hinweis vs hinweisen
Shared letters: ehinsw. Private to "Hinweis": -. Private to "hinweisen": -.
"Hinweis" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "hinweisen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hinweis" for "hinweisen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Hinweis" or "hinweisen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hinweis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hinweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,990,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hinweis" and "hinweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hinweis vs hinwies". 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 #1,990,136 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.