Which to use
“Hofer” is a name and “hoff” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,932
- “Hofer” frequency rank
- #13,863
- “hoff” frequency rank
- 21795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hofer | hoff |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | deutscher Nachname, Familienname | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hoffen |
Where the eye mixes Hofer and hoff
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Hofer and hoff
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hofer is [ˈhoːfɐ] while hoff is [hɔf]. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hofer is recorded at frequency rank #7,932, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈhoːfɐ]. hoff is at rank #13,863, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɔf].
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 21795, this pair ranks #1,882,057 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hofer vs hoff
Shared letters: fho. Private to "Hofer": er. Private to "hoff": -.
"Hofer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hoff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hofer" for "hoff" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Hofer" or "hoff" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Hofer" and "hoff" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hofer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hoff" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,882,057 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hofer" and "hoff" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoff vs höh". 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 #1,882,057 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.