hobenvsholdenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hoben is a verb, holden is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hoben” is a verb and “holden” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,101
“hoben” frequency rank
#27,353
“holden” frequency rank
58454
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hoben holden
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs heben Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hold

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hoben and holden apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hoben
6 ch
holden

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hoben is [ˈhoːbn̩] while holden is [ˈhɔldn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58454, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hoben is recorded at frequency rank #31,101, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhoːbn̩]. holden is at rank #27,353, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔldn̩].

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 58454, this pair ranks #862,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hoben vs holden

Shared letters: ehno. Private to "hoben": b. Private to "holden": dl.

"hoben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "holden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hobenhboen · hhoben · hobben · hobenn · hobne · hoebn · ohben
  • holdenhholden · hloden · hodlen · holdden · holdenn · holdne · holedn · hollden

Frequency comparison

hoben#31,101
holden#27,353

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hoben" and "holden" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hoben" is a verb and "holden" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hoben" or "holden"?
"holden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,353 in our German list, against #31,101 for "hoben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hoben vs holden

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “hoben”; for an adjective, it's “holden”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hoben” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list