Which to use
“hear” and “hex” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,155
- “hear” frequency rank
- #35,833
- “hex” frequency rank
- 69988
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hear | hex |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hören; mit dem Gehör wahrnehmen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hexen |
Where the eye mixes hear and hex
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hear with hex
A purely visual mix-up. hear ([hɪə(ɹ)]) and hex ([hɛks]) 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 69988, 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)]. hex is at rank #35,833, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɛks].
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 69988, this pair ranks #459,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hear vs hex
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hear": ar. Private to "hex": x.
"hear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "hex" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hear ← ehar · haer · hearr · hhear
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hear" for "hex" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hear" or "hex" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hear" and "hex" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #459,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hear" and "hex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hex". 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 #459,889 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.