HemervsHummerConfusable pair

Quick tell: Hemer is a name, Hummer is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Hemer” is a name and “Hummer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,776
“Hemer” frequency rank
#28,252
“Hummer” frequency rank
78028
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hemer Hummer
Definition Stadt in Deutschland, im Sauerland großer, langgestreckter, gepanzerter, zehnfüßiger Krebs mit gewaltigen Scheren an europäischen und nordamerikanischen Küsten

Where the eye mixes Hemer and Hummer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Hemer
6 ch
Hummer

Look-alike desk: Hemer vs Hummer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hemer is [ˈheːmɐ] while Hummer is [ˈhʊmɐ]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78028, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hemer is recorded at frequency rank #49,776, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈheːmɐ]. Hummer is at rank #28,252, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊmɐ].

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 78028, this pair ranks #247,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Hemer vs Hummer

Shared letters: ehmr. Private to "Hemer": -. Private to "Hummer": u.

"Hemer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Hummer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hemerehmer · heemr · hemerr · hemre · hhemer · hmeer
  • Hummerhhummer · hmumer · humemr · humer · hummerr · hummre · uhmmer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hemer" and "Hummer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hemer" is a name and "Hummer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Hemer" or "Hummer" show up more?
"Hummer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,252 in our German list, against #49,776 for "Hemer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hemer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hummer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #247,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hemer" and "Hummer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel 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 #247,422 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list