Which to use
“hoben” and “holen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,101
- “hoben” frequency rank
- #1,328
- “holen” frequency rank
- 32429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hoben | holen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs heben | etwas oder jemanden herbeischaffen |
Where the eye mixes hoben and holen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hoben vs holen
A purely visual mix-up. hoben ([ˈhoːbn̩]) and holen ([ˈhoːlən]) 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 a single letter - b in “hoben” becomes l in “holen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32429, 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]. holen is at rank #1,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhoːlən].
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 32429, this pair ranks #1,707,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hoben vs holen
Shared letters: ehno. Private to "hoben": b. Private to "holen": l.
"hoben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "holen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hoben" and "holen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hoben" or "holen"?
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 "hoben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,707,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hoben" and "holen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoben vs Hörern". 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 #1,707,747 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.