Which to use
“her” is an adverb and “Herrn” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #477
- “her” frequency rank
- #1,699
- “Herrn” frequency rank
- 2176
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | her | Herrn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bewegung in Richtung des Sprechenden von einem entfernteren Ort aus | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Herr |
Where the eye mixes her and Herrn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between her and Herrn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: her is [heːɐ̯] while Herrn is [hɛʁn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “her” sits inside “Herrn”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
her is recorded at frequency rank #477, classified as anadv, pronounced [heːɐ̯]. Herrn is at rank #1,699, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛʁn].
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 2176, this pair ranks #2,002,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of her vs Herrn
Shared letters: ehr. Private to "her": -. Private to "Herrn": n.
"her" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Herrn" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Herrn ← ehrrn · hern · hernr · herrnn · hherrn · hrern
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "her" and "Herrn" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "her" or "Herrn" show up more?
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 "her" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Herrn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,002,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "her" and "Herrn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harren vs Herrn". 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 #2,002,934 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.