herbevsHordeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: herbe is a adjective, Horde is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“herbe” is an adjective and “Horde” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,086
“herbe” frequency rank
#17,614
“Horde” frequency rank
49700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature herbe Horde
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs herb organisierte Gruppe von Individuen (meist Säugetieren), welche sich einen Lebensraum teilen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set herbe and Horde apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
herbe
5 ch
Horde

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: herbe is [ˈhɛʁbə] while Horde is [ˈhɔʁdə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49700, 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]. Horde is at rank #17,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɔʁdə].

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 49700, this pair ranks #1,201,575 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of herbe vs Horde

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "herbe": b. Private to "Horde": do.

"herbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Horde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • herbeehrbe · hebre · herbbe · hereb · herrbe · hherbe · hrebe
  • Hordehhorde · hodre · hordde · hored · horrde · hrode · ohrde

Frequency comparison

herbe#32,086
Horde#17,614

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "herbe" and "Horde" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "herbe" is an adjective and "Horde" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "herbe" or "Horde"?
"Horde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,614 in our German list, against #32,086 for "herbe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering herbe vs Horde

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “herbe”; for a noun, it's “Horde”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “herbe” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list