hoivsHzTell them apart

Quick tell: hoi is a intj, Hz is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hoi” is an intj and “Hz” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,901
“hoi” frequency rank
#12,310
“Hz” frequency rank
54211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hoi Hz
Definition Ausruf des (freudigen) Erstaunens Hertz

Letter map: hoi vs Hz

Shared letters muted; letters that set hoi and Hz apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
hoi
2 ch
Hz

Grammar separator: hoi vs Hz

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hoi is anintj and Hzanabbrev. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hoi is recorded at frequency rank #41,901, classified as anintj, pronounced [hɔɪ̯]. Hz is at rank #12,310, tagged as anabbrev.

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 54211, this pair ranks #1,027,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hoi vs Hz

Shared letters: h. Private to "hoi": io. Private to "Hz": z.

"hoi" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "Hz" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hoi" and "Hz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hoi" is an intj and "Hz" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "hoi" or "Hz" show up more?
"Hz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,310 in our German list, against #41,901 for "hoi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hoi" and "Hz".

  • Full dictionary entry for "hoi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,027,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hoi" and "Hz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "höh vs hoi". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,027,758 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