Which to use
“holde” is an adjective and “holst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,352
- “holde” frequency rank
- #16,732
- “holst” frequency rank
- 62084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | holde | holst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hold | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs holen |
Where the eye mixes holde and holst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: holde vs holst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: holde is [ˈhɔldə] while holst is [hoːlst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
holde is recorded at frequency rank #45,352, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔldə]. holst is at rank #16,732, tagged as averb, pronounced [hoːlst].
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 62084, this pair ranks #725,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of holde vs holst
Shared letters: hlo. Private to "holde": de. Private to "holst": st.
"holde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "holst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "holde" and "holst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "holde" or "holst" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "holde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #725,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "holde" and "holst" 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 #725,763 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.