Which to use
“hol” is a verb and “holde” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,270
- “hol” frequency rank
- #45,352
- “holde” frequency rank
- 50622
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hol | holde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs holen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hold |
Where the eye mixes hol and holde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hol with holde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hol is [hoːl] while holde is [ˈhɔldə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “hol” sits inside “holde”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hol is recorded at frequency rank #5,270, classified as averb, pronounced [hoːl]. holde is at rank #45,352, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔldə].
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 50622, this pair ranks #1,166,746 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hol vs holde
Shared letters: hlo. Private to "hol": -. Private to "holde": de.
"hol" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "holde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- holde ← hholde · hlode · hodle · holdde · holed · hollde · ohlde
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hol" for "holde" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hol" or "holde" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hol" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,166,746 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hol" and "holde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hola vs holde". 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 #1,166,746 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.