HofesvshoffstWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Hofes is a noun, hoffst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Hofes” is a noun and “hoffst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,928
“Hofes” frequency rank
#48,225
“hoffst” frequency rank
67153
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hofes hoffst
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Hof 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hoffen

Where the eye mixes Hofes and hoffst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Hofes
6 ch
hoffst

Visual trap between Hofes and hoffst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hofes is [ˈhoːfəs] while hoffst is [hɔfst]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hofes is recorded at frequency rank #18,928, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhoːfəs]. hoffst is at rank #48,225, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɔfst].

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 67153, this pair ranks #549,566 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hofes vs hoffst

Shared letters: fhos. Private to "Hofes": e. Private to "hoffst": t.

"Hofes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "hoffst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hofeshfoes · hhofes · hoefs · hofess · hoffes · hofse · ohfes
  • hoffsthfofst · hhoffst · hoffsst · hoffstt · hoffts · hofsft · hofst · ohffst

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hofes" for "hoffst" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hofes" is a noun and "hoffst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Hofes" or "hoffst"?
"Hofes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,928 in our German list, against #48,225 for "hoffst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Hofes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hoffst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #549,566 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hofes" and "hoffst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hilfst vs hoffst". 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 #549,566 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