Hilfe
[ˈhɪlfə]
The verdict
“Hilfe” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #490 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #490
- frequency rank, German
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - aktive Unterstützung
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Hilfe |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈhɪlfə] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #490 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Hilfe” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Hilfe is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈhɪlfə]. Corpus data places it at rank #490 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1aktive Unterstützung
- 2finanzielle Hilfe, Unterstützung durch Geldmittel
- 3Hilfsmittel, um eine beeinträchtigte oder verlorene Funktion des Körpers ausführen zu können
- 4Hilfskraft, Person, die hilfreich tätig ist
- 5Programm^([1]) oder Programmteil, in dem Erläuterungen zu einer bestimmten Sache oder dem Programm stehen
- 6Gewichtsverlagerung, Schenkeldruck und Zügelführung, die dazu dienen, einem Pferd mitzuteilen, was der Reiter von ihm will
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
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.
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"?
What does "Hilfe" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Hilfe"?
How do you pronounce "Hilfe"?
What language does "Hilfe" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Hilfe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is H-I-L-F-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈhɪlfə] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hole” - see the side-by-side comparison. Hilfe vs hole
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.