hipvsHofWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: hip is a adjective, Hof is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hip” is an adjective and “Hof” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,934
“hip” frequency rank
#1,773
“Hof” frequency rank
8707
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hip Hof
Definition in Mode, voll im Trend umgrenzter Platz, Wirtschafts- und Verkehrsfläche auf einem Grundstück, in der Regel von Gebäuden umschlossen oder hinter, vor oder zwischen Gebäuden gelegen

Where the eye mixes hip and Hof

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
hip
3 ch
Hof

Look-alike desk: hip vs Hof

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hip is [hɪp] while Hof is [hoːf]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8707, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hip is recorded at frequency rank #6,934, classified as anadj, pronounced [hɪp]. Hof is at rank #1,773, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hoːf].

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 8707, this pair ranks #1,983,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hip vs Hof

Shared letters: h. Private to "hip": ip. Private to "Hof": fo.

"hip" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Hof" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hip" and "Hof" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hip" is an adjective and "Hof" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "hip" or "Hof" show up more?
"Hof" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,773 in our German list, against #6,934 for "hip". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "hip" and "Hof" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hip" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hof" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,983,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hip" and "Hof" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hip vs höh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,983,178 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