holen
[ˈhoːlən]
The verdict
“holen” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #1,328 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #1,328
- frequency rank, German
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - etwas oder jemanden herbeischaffen
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 | holen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈhoːlən] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #1,328 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “holen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for holen is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈhoːlən]. Corpus data places it at rank #1,328 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 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 holen, with forms such as "hholen", "hloen", and "hoeln". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hon", "Holz", "höre", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is holen, spelled H-O-L-E-N.
Definition
- 1etwas oder jemanden herbeischaffen
- 2einatmen
- 3sich eine Unpässlichkeit einfangen
- 4entführt werden
- 5in diversen festen Wendungen wie zum Beispiel „den Sieg holen“ = gewinnen; „Rat holen“ = sich beraten lassen
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hholen,hloen,hoeln,holenn,hollen,holne,ohlen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of holen - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "holen"?
What does "holen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "holen"?
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What language does "holen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “holen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is H-O-L-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈhoːlən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hon” - see the side-by-side comparison. holen vs hon
- 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.