Which to use
“herbe” and “herben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,086
- “herbe” frequency rank
- #40,593
- “herben” frequency rank
- 72679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | herbe | herben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs herb | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs herb |
Where the eye mixes herbe and herben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. herbe runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against herben's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses herbe with herben
A purely visual mix-up. herbe ([ˈhɛʁbə]) and herben ([ˈhɛʁbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “herbe” sits inside “herben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
herbe is recorded at frequency rank #32,086, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛʁbə]. herben is at rank #40,593, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛʁbn̩].
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 72679, this pair ranks #381,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of herbe vs herben
Shared letters: behr. Private to "herbe": -. Private to "herben": n.
"herbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "herben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "herbe" and "herben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "herbe" vs "herben" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "herbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "herben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #381,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "herbe" and "herben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harren vs herben". 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 #381,510 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.