hoffvsholWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,863
“hoff” frequency rank
#5,270
“hol” frequency rank
19133
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hoff hol
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hoffen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs holen

Where the eye mixes hoff and hol

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
hoff
3 ch
hol

Why the eye confuses hoff with hol

A purely visual mix-up. hoff ([hɔf]) and hol ([hoːl]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19133, 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]. hol is at rank #5,270, tagged as averb, pronounced [hoːl].

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 19133, this pair ranks #1,911,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hoff vs hol

Shared letters: ho. Private to "hoff": f. Private to "hol": l.

"hoff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hol" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hoffhfof · hhoff · ohff

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hoff" and "hol" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hɔf] versus [hoːl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hoff" or "hol"?
"hol" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,270 in our German list, against #13,863 for "hoff". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hoff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hol" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,911,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hoff" and "hol" 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 #1,911,524 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