HosenvsHülsenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,089
“Hosen” frequency rank
#40,007
“Hülsen” frequency rank
45096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hosen Hülsen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hose Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hülse

Where the eye mixes Hosen and Hülsen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hosen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Hülsen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Hosen
6 ch
Hülsen

Why the eye confuses Hosen with Hülsen

A purely visual mix-up. Hosen ([ˈhoːzn̩]) and Hülsen ([ˈhʏlzn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hosen is recorded at frequency rank #5,089, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhoːzn̩]. Hülsen is at rank #40,007, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʏlzn̩].

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 45096, this pair ranks #1,364,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hosen vs Hülsen

Shared letters: ehns. Private to "Hosen": o. Private to "Hülsen": lü.

"Hosen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Hülsen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hosen ← hhosen · hoesn · hosenn · hosne · hossen · hsoen · ohsen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Hosen" and "Hülsen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhoːzn̩] versus [ˈhʏlzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hosen" vs "Hülsen" - which ranks higher?
"Hosen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,089 in our German list, against #40,007 for "Hülsen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hosen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hülsen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,364,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hosen" and "Hülsen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hissen vs Hülsen". 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 #1,364,618 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