holavsholdWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hola is a phrase, hold is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hola” is a phrase and “hold” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,229
“hola” frequency rank
#15,655
“hold” frequency rank
63884
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hola hold
Definition hallo sehr zart und hübsch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hola and hold apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hola
4 ch
hold

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

hola and hold form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - a in “hola” becomes d in “hold” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hola is recorded at frequency rank #48,229, classified as aphrase, pronounced […]. hold is at rank #15,655, tagged as anadj, pronounced [hɔlt].

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 63884, this pair ranks #660,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

hola#48,229
hold#15,655

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hola" and "hold" be used interchangeably?
No, "hola" and "hold" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering hola vs hold

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a phrase, it's “hola”; for an adjective, it's “hold”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hola” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list