Which to use
“har” is an adverb and “hear” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,383
- “har” frequency rank
- #34,155
- “hear” frequency rank
- 70538
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | har | hear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dort | hören; mit dem Gehör wahrnehmen |
Where the eye mixes har and hear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. har runs 3 letters (CVC) against hear's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: har vs hear
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: har is [hɛaɹ] while hear is [hɪə(ɹ)]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
har is recorded at frequency rank #36,383, classified as anadv, pronounced [hɛaɹ]. hear is at rank #34,155, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɪə(ɹ)].
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 70538, this pair ranks #443,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of har vs hear
Shared letters: ahr. Private to "har": -. Private to "hear": e.
"har" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hear ← ehar · haer · hearr · hhear
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "har" and "hear" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "har" or "hear"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "har" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #443,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "har" and "hear" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "har vs haze". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #443,320 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.