headvsheartWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,062
“head” frequency rank
#12,300
“heart” frequency rank
23362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature head heart
Definition der Kopf Herz, Herzhälfte

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set head and heart apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
head
5 ch
heart

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. head ([hɛd]) and heart ([hɑːt]) 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 23362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

head is recorded at frequency rank #11,062, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɛd]. heart is at rank #12,300, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɑːt].

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 23362, this pair ranks #1,862,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of head vs heart

Shared letters: aeh. Private to "head": d. Private to "heart": rt.

"head" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "heart" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • headehad · haed · headd · heda · hhead
  • heartehart · haert · hearrt · heartt · heatr · herat · hheart

Frequency comparison

head#11,062
heart#12,300

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "head" and "heart" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hɛd] versus [hɑːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "head" or "heart"?
"head" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,062 in our German list, against #12,300 for "heart". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering head vs heart

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 “head” 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