hartervshärtereWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“harter” and “härtere” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,928
“harter” frequency rank
#23,568
“härtere” frequency rank
31496
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature harter härtere
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hart Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs hart

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set harter and härtere apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
harter
7 ch
härtere

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. harter ([ˈhaʁtɐ]) and härtere ([ˈhɛʁtəʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

harter is recorded at frequency rank #7,928, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaʁtɐ]. härtere is at rank #23,568, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛʁtəʁə].

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 31496, this pair ranks #1,726,926 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of harter vs härtere

Shared letters: ehrt. Private to "harter": a. Private to "härtere": ä.

"harter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "härtere" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • harterahrter · haretr · harrter · harterr · hartre · hartter · hatrer · hharter

Frequency comparison

harter#7,928
härtere#23,568

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "harter" and "härtere" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaʁtɐ] versus [ˈhɛʁtəʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "harter" or "härtere"?
"harter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,928 in our German list, against #23,568 for "härtere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering harter vs härtere

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “harter” 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