Which to use
“hoff” and “hoffte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,863
- “hoff” frequency rank
- #10,873
- “hoffte” frequency rank
- 24736
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hoff | hoffte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hoffen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hoffen |
Where the eye mixes hoff and hoffte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hoff with hoffte
A purely visual mix-up. hoff ([hɔf]) and hoffte ([ˈhɔftə]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hoff” sits inside “hoffte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hoff is recorded at frequency rank #13,863, classified as averb, pronounced [hɔf]. hoffte is at rank #10,873, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɔftə].
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 24736, this pair ranks #1,843,458 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hoff vs hoffte
Shared letters: fho. Private to "hoff": -. Private to "hoffte": et.
"hoff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hoffte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hoff" for "hoffte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hoff" or "hoffte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hoff" and "hoffte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hoff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hoffte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,843,458 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hoff" and "hoffte" 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 #1,843,458 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.