HülsenvsHürdenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#40,007
“Hülsen” frequency rank
#10,493
“Hürden” frequency rank
50500
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hülsen Hürden
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hülse Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hürde

Where the eye mixes Hülsen and Hürden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hülsen and Hürden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Hülsen
6 ch
Hürden

Look-alike desk: Hülsen vs Hürden

A purely visual mix-up. Hülsen ([ˈhʏlzn̩]) and Hürden ([ˈhʏʁdn̩]) 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 50500, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hülsen is recorded at frequency rank #40,007, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʏlzn̩]. Hürden is at rank #10,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʏʁdn̩].

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 50500, this pair ranks #1,171,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hülsen vs Hürden

Shared letters: ehnü. Private to "Hülsen": ls. Private to "Hürden": dr.

"Hülsen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Hürden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Hülsen" and "Hürden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhʏlzn̩] versus [ˈhʏʁdn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hülsen" vs "Hürden" - which ranks higher?
"Hürden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,493 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hülsen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hürden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,171,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hülsen" and "Hürden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hissen vs Hülsen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,171,354 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