GehörvsgehörstConfusable pair

Quick tell: Gehör is a noun, gehörst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gehör” is a noun and “gehörst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,201
“Gehör” frequency rank
#14,300
“gehörst” frequency rank
23501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gehör gehörst
Definition allgemein Beachtung, Zuhören, „Gehör verschaffen“ 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gehören

Where the eye mixes Gehör and gehörst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Gehör runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against gehörst's 7 (CVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Gehör
7 ch
gehörst

Visual trap between Gehör and gehörst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gehör is [ɡəˈhøːɐ̯] while gehörst is [ɡəˈhøːɐ̯st]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Gehör” sits inside “gehörst”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gehör is recorded at frequency rank #9,201, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈhøːɐ̯]. gehörst is at rank #14,300, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈhøːɐ̯st].

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 23501, this pair ranks #1,860,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gehör vs gehörst

Shared letters: eghrö. Private to "Gehör": -. Private to "gehörst": st.

"Gehör" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "gehörst" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gehör" and "gehörst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gehör" is a noun and "gehörst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Gehör" or "gehörst" show up more?
"Gehör" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,201 in our German list, against #14,300 for "gehörst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gehör" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gehörst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,860,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gehör" and "gehörst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gehör vs gero". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,860,483 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