hoffevshofftenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#716
“hoffe” frequency rank
#27,352
“hofften” frequency rank
28068
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hoffe hofften
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hoffen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hoffen

Where the eye mixes hoffe and hofften

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
hoffe
7 ch
hofften

Look-alike desk: hoffe vs hofften

A purely visual mix-up. hoffe ([ˈhɔfə]) and hofften ([ˈhɔftn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hoffe is recorded at frequency rank #716, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɔfə]. hofften is at rank #27,352, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɔftn̩].

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 28068, this pair ranks #1,791,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hoffe vs hofften

Shared letters: efho. Private to "hoffe": -. Private to "hofften": nt.

"hoffe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hofften" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hoffehfofe · hhoffe · hofe · hofef · ohffe
  • hofftenhfoften · hhofften · hoffetn · hofftenn · hofftne · hofftten · hoften · hoftfen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hoffe" for "hofften" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɔfə] versus [ˈhɔftn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hoffe" or "hofften"?
"hoffe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #716 in our German list, against #27,352 for "hofften". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "hoffe" and "hofften" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hoffe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hofften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,791,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hoffe" and "hofften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Heften vs hofften". 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 #1,791,097 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