Which to use
“hau” is a verb and “her” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,064
- “hau” frequency rank
- #477
- “her” frequency rank
- 7541
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hau | her |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs hauen | Bewegung in Richtung des Sprechenden von einem entfernteren Ort aus |
Where the eye mixes hau and her
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hau with her
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hau is [haʊ̯] while her is [heːɐ̯]. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7541, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hau is recorded at frequency rank #7,064, classified as averb, pronounced [haʊ̯]. her is at rank #477, tagged as anadv, pronounced [heːɐ̯].
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 7541, this pair ranks #1,987,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hau vs her
Shared letters: h. Private to "hau": au. Private to "her": er.
"hau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "her" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hau" for "her" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hau" or "her"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "her" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,987,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hau" and "her" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hau vs haze". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,987,781 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.