Which to use
“härten” is a verb and “herben” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,493
- “härten” frequency rank
- #40,593
- “herben” frequency rank
- 88086
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | härten | herben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | transitiv: | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs herb |
Where the eye mixes härten and herben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. härten and herben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: härten vs herben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: härten is [ˈhɛʁtn̩] while herben is [ˈhɛʁbn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
härten is recorded at frequency rank #47,493, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛʁtn̩]. herben is at rank #40,593, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛʁbn̩].
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 88086, this pair ranks #72,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of härten vs herben
Shared letters: ehnr. Private to "härten": tä. Private to "herben": b.
"härten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "herben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- herben ← ehrben · hebren · herbben · herbenn · herbne · herebn · herrben · hherben
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "härten" and "herben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "härten" or "herben" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "härten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "herben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "härten" and "herben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harren vs härten". 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 #72,512 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.