HöhlenvsHopfenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,311
“Höhlen” frequency rank
#23,988
“Hopfen” frequency rank
36299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Höhlen Hopfen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Höhle der echte Hopfen, eine 5 m hohe Kletterpflanze, dient als Bitterstoff-Erzeuger in der Bierbrauerei

Where the eye mixes Höhlen and Hopfen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Höhlen
6 ch
Hopfen

Look-alike desk: Höhlen vs Hopfen

A purely visual mix-up. Höhlen ([ˈhøːlən]) and Hopfen ([ˈhɔp͡fn̩]) 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 36299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Höhlen is recorded at frequency rank #12,311, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːlən]. Hopfen is at rank #23,988, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɔp͡fn̩].

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 36299, this pair ranks #1,619,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Höhlen vs Hopfen

Shared letters: ehn. Private to "Höhlen": . Private to "Hopfen": fop.

"Höhlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Hopfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hopfenhhopfen · hofpen · hopefn · hopfenn · hopffen · hopfne · hoppfen · hpofen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Höhlen" and "Hopfen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhøːlən] versus [ˈhɔp͡fn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Höhlen" or "Hopfen" show up more?
"Höhlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,311 in our German list, against #23,988 for "Hopfen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Höhlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hopfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,619,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Höhlen" and "Hopfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Happen vs Hopfen". 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 #1,619,066 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