hlvsHzWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,964
“hl” frequency rank
#12,310
“Hz” frequency rank
18274
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hl Hz
Definition Hektoliter (= 100 Liter) Hertz

Letter map: hl vs Hz

Shared letters muted; letters that set hl and Hz apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

2 ch
hl
2 ch
Hz

Pair insight - hl / Hz

hl and Hz are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - l in “hl” becomes z in “Hz”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hl is recorded at frequency rank #5,964, classified as anabbrev. Hz is at rank #12,310, tagged as anabbrev.

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 18274, this pair ranks #1,919,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hl vs Hz

Shared letters: h. Private to "hl": l. Private to "Hz": z.

"hl" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "Hz" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hl" and "Hz" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by a single letter - l in “hl” becomes z in “Hz”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "hl" or "Hz"?
"hl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,964 in our German list, against #12,310 for "Hz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hl" and "Hz".

  • Full dictionary entry for "hl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,919,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hl" and "Hz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haze vs Hz". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,919,795 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