HülsevsHülsenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,585
“Hülse” frequency rank
#40,007
“Hülsen” frequency rank
82592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hülse Hülsen
Definition feste und meist längliche Hülle, in die etwas hineingesteckt werden kann Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hülse

Where the eye mixes Hülse and Hülsen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Hülse
6 ch
Hülsen

Look-alike desk: Hülse vs Hülsen

A purely visual mix-up. Hülse ([ˈhʏlzə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Hülse” sits inside “Hülsen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hülse is recorded at frequency rank #42,585, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʏlzə]. 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 82592, this pair ranks #154,474 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Hülse vs Hülsen

Shared letters: ehlsü. Private to "Hülse": -. Private to "Hülsen": n.

"Hülse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Hülsen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hülse" for "Hülsen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhʏlzə] versus [ˈhʏlzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Hülse" or "Hülsen" show up more?
"Hülsen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,007 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

Eye-level mix-up between "Hülse" and "Hülsen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hülse" 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 #154,474 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hülse" and "Hülsen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "holde vs Hülse". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #154,474 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