Which to use
“har” is an adverb and “hen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,383
- “har” frequency rank
- #34,162
- “hen” frequency rank
- 70545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | har | hen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dort | die Henne, ein weiblicher Vogel |
Where the eye mixes har and hen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. har and hen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses har with hen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: har is [hɛaɹ] while hen is [hɛn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70545, 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]. hen is at rank #34,162, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛn].
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 70545, this pair ranks #443,107 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of har vs hen
Shared letters: h. Private to "har": ar. Private to "hen": en.
"har" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hen" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "har" for "hen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "har" vs "hen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "hen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #443,107 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "har" and "hen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "har vs haze". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #443,107 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.