Which to use
“herab” and “hinab” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,672
- “herab” frequency rank
- #14,324
- “hinab” frequency rank
- 25996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | herab | hinab |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von oben nach unten (meist in einer Perspektive, in der der Betrachter unten steht) | von hier oben nach dort unten |
Where the eye mixes herab and hinab
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. herab and hinab follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses herab with hinab
A purely visual mix-up. herab ([hɛˈʁap]) and hinab ([hɪˈnap]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25996, 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]. hinab is at rank #14,324, tagged as anadv, pronounced [hɪˈnap].
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 25996, this pair ranks #1,824,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of herab vs hinab
Shared letters: abh. Private to "herab": er. Private to "hinab": in.
"herab" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hinab" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "herab" and "hinab" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "herab" vs "hinab" - 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 "herab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hinab" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,824,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "herab" and "hinab" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinab vs Hindi". 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 #1,824,813 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.