herabvsHerdeTell them apart

Quick tell: herab is a adverb, Herde is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“herab” is an adverb and “Herde” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,672
“herab” frequency rank
#12,505
“Herde” frequency rank
24177
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature herab Herde
Definition von oben nach unten (meist in einer Perspektive, in der der Betrachter unten steht) Gruppe von meist größeren Säugetieren der gleichen Art, die im losen oder sozialisierten Verband (mit Ausbildung einer Rangordnung) leben; Gruppen von flugunfähigen Vögeln und Gruppen verschiedener Arten kommen ebenfalls in Herden vor

Where the eye mixes herab and Herde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
herab
5 ch
Herde

Visual trap between herab and Herde

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: herab is [hɛˈʁap] while Herde is [ˈheːɐ̯də]. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

herab is recorded at frequency rank #11,672, classified as anadv, pronounced [hɛˈʁap]. Herde is at rank #12,505, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈheːɐ̯də].

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 24177, this pair ranks #1,851,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of herab vs Herde

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "herab": ab. Private to "Herde": d.

"herab" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Herde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • herabehrab · hearb · herabb · herba · herrab · hherab · hreab
  • Herdeehrde · hedre · herdde · hered · herrde · hherde · hrede

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "herab" and "Herde" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "herab" is an adverb and "Herde" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "herab" or "Herde"?
"herab" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,672 in our German list, against #12,505 for "Herde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "herab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Herde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,851,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "herab" and "Herde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hardi vs Herde". 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 #1,851,329 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