Hilfe

[ˈhɪlfə]

/[ˈhɪlfə]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Hilfe” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #490. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#490
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - aktive Unterstützung

Corpus desk

Index DE-hilfe · Hilfe · German

Hilfe · rank #490 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #490
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH Herr

Nearest frequency peer: Herr (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Hilfe“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Hilfe“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Hilfe vs hole
40% similar
Hilfe vs Höfe
60% similar
Hilfe vs Hufe
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Hilfe
PropertyValue
HeadwordHilfe
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈhɪlfə]
Letters5
Frequency rank#490
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Hilfe“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Hilfeliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Herr“ (#489), „leicht“ (#491), „Glück“ (#488). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „Hilfe“ bei #490. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around Hilfe (IPA [ˈhɪlfə]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #490 among 3,372 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Hilfe, with forms such as "hhilfe", "hifle", and "hilef". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hole", "Höfe", "Hufe", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Hilfe, spelled H-I-L-F-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    aktive Unterstützung
  2. 2
    finanzielle Hilfe, Unterstützung durch Geldmittel
  3. 3
    Hilfsmittel, um eine beeinträchtigte oder verlorene Funktion des Körpers ausführen zu können
  4. 4
    Hilfskraft, Person, die hilfreich tätig ist
  5. 5
    Programm^([1]) oder Programmteil, in dem Erläuterungen zu einer bestimmten Sache oder dem Programm stehen
  6. 6
    Gewichtsverlagerung, Schenkeldruck und Zügelführung, die dazu dienen, einem Pferd mitzuteilen, was der Reiter von ihm will

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Hilfe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Es war eine große Hilfe, dass wir seinen PKW vorübergehend nutzen konnten.
  2. Ich brauche dringend Hilfe!

Synonyms

HilfsmittelUnterstützungAnwendungshilfeProgrammhilfe

Antonyms

Unterlassung

This word in other languages

help(English)ayuda(Español)aide(Français)ajuda(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhilfe
  • hifle
  • hilef
  • hilffe
  • hillfe
  • hlife
  • ihlfe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Hilfe - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hhilfe1hifle2hilef2hilffe1hillfe1hlife2ihlfe2
Edit distance from "Hilfe"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Hilfe"?
"Hilfe" is spelled H-I-L-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈhɪlfə].
What does "Hilfe" mean?
As a noun, "Hilfe" means: aktive Unterstützung
What words are commonly confused with "Hilfe"?
"Hilfe" is commonly confused with "hole", "Höfe", "Hufe". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Hilfe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Hilfe" is [ˈhɪlfə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Hilfe" come from?
"Hilfe" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Hilfe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Glück#488Folge#487Sache#495denke#475

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Gruppe7 variantslesen7 variantsbeste7 variantsMutter7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list