HöfevsHöheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,734
“Höfe” frequency rank
#717
“Höhe” frequency rank
17451
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Höfe Höhe
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hof die Dimension (Größe) nach oben

Where the eye mixes Höfe and Höhe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Höfe and Höhe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
Höfe
4 ch
Höhe

Visual trap between Höfe and Höhe

A purely visual mix-up. Höfe ([ˈhøːfə]) and Höhe ([ˈhøːə]) 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 - f in “Höfe” becomes h in “Höhe”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Höfe is recorded at frequency rank #16,734, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːfə]. Höhe is at rank #717, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːə].

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 17451, this pair ranks #1,927,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Höfe vs Höhe

Shared letters: ehö. Private to "Höfe": f. Private to "Höhe": -.

"Höfe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Höhe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Höfe" and "Höhe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhøːfə] versus [ˈhøːə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Höfe" or "Höhe"?
"Höhe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #717 in our German list, against #16,734 for "Höfe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Höfe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Höhe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,927,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Höfe" and "Höhe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haze vs Höfe". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,927,283 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