holenvshonWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,328
“holen” frequency rank
#40,001
“hon” frequency rank
41329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature holen hon
Definition etwas oder jemanden herbeischaffen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs honen

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
holen
3 ch
hon

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. holen ([ˈhoːlən]) and hon ([hoːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

holen is recorded at frequency rank #1,328, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhoːlən]. hon is at rank #40,001, tagged as averb, pronounced [hoːn].

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 41329, this pair ranks #1,482,742 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of holen vs hon

Shared letters: hno. Private to "holen": el. Private to "hon": -.

"holen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "hon" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • holenhholen · hloen · hoeln · holenn · hollen · holne · ohlen

Frequency comparison

holen#1,328
hon#40,001

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "holen" and "hon" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhoːlən] versus [hoːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "holen" or "hon"?
"holen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,328 in our German list, against #40,001 for "hon". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering holen vs hon

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “holen” 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