Which to use
“hej” is an intj and “herb” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,213
- “hej” frequency rank
- #22,757
- “herb” frequency rank
- 70970
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hej | herb |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | informelle Grußformel | in der Nähe von bitter, das Gegenteil von süßlich |
Where the eye mixes hej and herb
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hej runs 3 letters (CVC) against herb's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between hej and herb
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hej is [haɪ] while herb is [hɛʁp]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hej is recorded at frequency rank #48,213, classified as anintj, pronounced [haɪ]. herb is at rank #22,757, tagged as anadj, pronounced [hɛʁp].
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 70970, this pair ranks #430,415 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hej vs herb
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hej": j. Private to "herb": br.
"hej" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "herb" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- herb ← ehrb · hebr · herbb · herrb · hherb · hreb
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hej" for "herb" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hej" vs "herb" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hej" and "herb" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hej" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "herb" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #430,415 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hej" and "herb" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hej". 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 #430,415 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.