HülsevsHürdeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,585
“Hülse” frequency rank
#9,739
“Hürde” frequency rank
52324
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hülse Hürde
Definition feste und meist längliche Hülle, in die etwas hineingesteckt werden kann 76,20 bis 106,68 cm hohes Hindernis, das in bestimmten Abständen (ungefähr 8,50 bis 35 m) auf der Laufstrecke steht und vom Läufer überwunden werden muss, ohne dass es umfällt

Where the eye mixes Hülse and Hürde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Hülse and Hürde follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Hülse
5 ch
Hürde

Why the eye confuses Hülse with Hürde

A purely visual mix-up. Hülse ([ˈhʏlzə]) and Hürde ([ˈhʏʁdə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52324, 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]. Hürde is at rank #9,739, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʏʁdə].

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 52324, this pair ranks #1,101,239 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hülse vs Hürde

Shared letters: ehü. Private to "Hülse": ls. Private to "Hürde": dr.

"Hülse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Hürde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hülse" and "Hürde" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhʏlzə] versus [ˈhʏʁdə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hülse" or "Hürde"?
"Hürde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,739 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.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Hülse" and "Hürde" 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 "Hürde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,101,239 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hülse" and "Hürde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "holde vs Hülse". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,101,239 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