Which to use
“härten” is a verb and “Hirte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,493
- “härten” frequency rank
- #27,772
- “Hirte” frequency rank
- 75265
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | härten | Hirte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | transitiv: | Besitzer und Hüter einer Tierherde |
Where the eye mixes härten and Hirte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. härten runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Hirte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between härten and Hirte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: härten is [ˈhɛʁtn̩] while Hirte is [ˈhɪʁtə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75265, 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]. Hirte is at rank #27,772, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪʁtə].
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 75265, this pair ranks #312,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of härten vs Hirte
Shared letters: ehrt. Private to "härten": nä. Private to "Hirte": i.
"härten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Hirte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Hirte ← hhirte · hiret · hirrte · hirtte · hitre · hrite · ihrte
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "härten" and "Hirte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "härten" or "Hirte" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "härten" and "Hirte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "härten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Hirte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #312,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "härten" and "Hirte" 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 #312,339 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.