HeerevsHenneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,156
“Heere” frequency rank
#21,286
“Henne” frequency rank
55442
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Heere Henne
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Heer weiblicher Vogel (insbesondere bei Hühnern)

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Heere
5 ch
Henne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Heere ([ˈheːʁə]) and Henne ([ˈhɛnə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Heere is recorded at frequency rank #34,156, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈheːʁə]. Henne is at rank #21,286, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛnə].

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 55442, this pair ranks #979,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Heere vs Henne

Shared letters: eh. Private to "Heere": r. Private to "Henne": n.

"Heere" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Henne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Heereehere · heeer · heerre · heree · hheere
  • Henneehnne · hene · henen · hhenne · hnene

Frequency comparison

Heere#34,156
Henne#21,286

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Heere" and "Henne" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈheːʁə] versus [ˈhɛnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Heere" or "Henne"?
"Henne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,286 in our German list, against #34,156 for "Heere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Heere vs Henne

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 “Heere” 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