Which to use
“hear” and “heb” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,155
- “hear” frequency rank
- #28,700
- “heb” frequency rank
- 62855
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hear | heb |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hören; mit dem Gehör wahrnehmen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs heben |
Where the eye mixes hear and heb
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hear and heb
A purely visual mix-up. hear ([hɪə(ɹ)]) and heb ([heːp]) 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 62855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hear is recorded at frequency rank #34,155, classified as averb, pronounced [hɪə(ɹ)]. heb is at rank #28,700, tagged as averb, pronounced [heːp].
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 62855, this pair ranks #697,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hear vs heb
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hear": ar. Private to "heb": b.
"hear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "heb" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hear ← ehar · haer · hearr · hhear
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hear" and "heb" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hear" or "heb"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heb" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #697,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hear" and "heb" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hear vs Hemer". 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 #697,763 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.