Which to use
“hoffen” and “hörten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,811
- “hoffen” frequency rank
- #11,457
- “hörten” frequency rank
- 13268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hoffen | hörten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zuversichtlich erwarten, in die Zukunft vertrauen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hören |
Where the eye mixes hoffen and hörten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hoffen and hörten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between hoffen and hörten
A purely visual mix-up. hoffen ([ˈhɔfn̩]) and hörten ([ˈhøːɐ̯tn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hoffen is recorded at frequency rank #1,811, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɔfn̩]. hörten is at rank #11,457, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːɐ̯tn̩].
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 13268, this pair ranks #1,959,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hoffen vs hörten
Shared letters: ehn. Private to "hoffen": fo. Private to "hörten": rtö.
"hoffen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hörten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hoffen ← hfofen · hhoffen · hofefn · hofen · hoffenn · hoffne · ohffen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hoffen" and "hörten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "hoffen" vs "hörten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hoffen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hörten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,959,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hoffen" and "hörten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harren vs hörten". 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 #1,959,037 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.