harvsHirtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: har is a adverb, Hirt is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“har” is an adverb and “Hirt” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,383
“har” frequency rank
#31,614
“Hirt” frequency rank
67997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature har Hirt
Definition dort Hüter einer Herde

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set har and Hirt apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
har
4 ch
Hirt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: har is [hɛaɹ] while Hirt is [hɪʁt]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67997, 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]. Hirt is at rank #31,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɪʁt].

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 67997, this pair ranks #522,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of har vs Hirt

Shared letters: hr. Private to "har": a. Private to "Hirt": it.

"har" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Hirt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hirthhirt · hirrt · hirtt · hitr · hrit · ihrt

Frequency comparison

har#36,383
Hirt#31,614

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "har" and "Hirt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "har" is an adverb and "Hirt" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "har" or "Hirt"?
"Hirt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,614 in our German list, against #36,383 for "har". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering har vs Hirt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “har”; for a noun, it's “Hirt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “har” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list