Which to use
“hemmen” is a verb and “Hummer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,161
- “hemmen” frequency rank
- #28,252
- “Hummer” frequency rank
- 62413
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hemmen | Hummer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas hindern | großer, langgestreckter, gepanzerter, zehnfüßiger Krebs mit gewaltigen Scheren an europäischen und nordamerikanischen Küsten |
Where the eye mixes hemmen and Hummer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hemmen and Hummer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses hemmen with Hummer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hemmen is [ˈhɛmən] while Hummer is [ˈhʊmɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hemmen is recorded at frequency rank #34,161, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛmən]. 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 62413, this pair ranks #713,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hemmen vs Hummer
Shared letters: ehm. Private to "hemmen": n. Private to "Hummer": ru.
"hemmen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Hummer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hemmen" and "Hummer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "hemmen" vs "Hummer" - which ranks higher?
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 "hemmen" 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 #713,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hemmen" and "Hummer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemer vs hemmen". 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 #713,795 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.