hinweisenvshinweistWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,996
“hinweisen” frequency rank
#15,392
“hinweist” frequency rank
20388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hinweisen hinweist
Definition jemandem etwas zur Kenntnis bringen; in Erinnerung rufen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs hinweisen

Where the eye mixes hinweisen and hinweist

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

9 ch
hinweisen
8 ch
hinweist

Look-alike desk: hinweisen vs hinweist

A purely visual mix-up. hinweisen ([ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) and hinweist ([ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯st]) 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 20388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hinweisen is recorded at frequency rank #4,996, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯zn̩]. hinweist is at rank #15,392, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯st].

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 20388, this pair ranks #1,898,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hinweisen vs hinweist

Shared letters: ehinsw. Private to "hinweisen": -. Private to "hinweist": t.

"hinweisen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "hinweist" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinweisen ← hhinweisen · hinewisen · hinnweisen · hinweiesn · hinweisenn · hinweisne · hinweissen · hinwesien
  • hinweist ← hhinweist · hinewist · hinnweist · hinweisst · hinweistt · hinweits · hinwesit · hinwiest

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hinweisen" and "hinweist" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯zn̩] versus [ˈhɪnˌvaɪ̯st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hinweisen" or "hinweist"?
"hinweisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,996 in our German list, against #15,392 for "hinweist". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "hinweisen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hinweist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,898,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hinweisen" and "hinweist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hinweise vs hinweist". 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 #1,898,230 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