holstvsHülseConfusable pair

Quick tell: holst is a verb, Hülse is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“holst” is a verb and “Hülse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,732
“holst” frequency rank
#42,585
“Hülse” frequency rank
59317
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature holst Hülse
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs holen feste und meist längliche Hülle, in die etwas hineingesteckt werden kann

Where the eye mixes holst and Hülse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
holst
5 ch
Hülse

Why the eye confuses holst with Hülse

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: holst is [hoːlst] while Hülse is [ˈhʏlzə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

holst is recorded at frequency rank #16,732, classified as averb, pronounced [hoːlst]. Hülse is at rank #42,585, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʏlzə].

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 59317, this pair ranks #829,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of holst vs Hülse

Shared letters: hls. Private to "holst": ot. Private to "Hülse": .

"holst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Hülse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • holsthholst · hlost · hollst · holsst · holstt · holts · hoslt · ohlst

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "holst" for "Hülse" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "holst" is a verb and "Hülse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "holst" or "Hülse" show up more?
"holst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,732 in our German list, against #42,585 for "Hülse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "holst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hülse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #829,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "holst" and "Hülse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "holde vs Hülse". 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 #829,061 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