Which to use
“herben” is an adjective and “Herde” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,593
- “herben” frequency rank
- #12,505
- “Herde” frequency rank
- 53098
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | herben | Herde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs herb | 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 herben and Herde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses herben with Herde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: herben is [ˈhɛʁbn̩] while Herde is [ˈheːɐ̯də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
herben is recorded at frequency rank #40,593, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛʁbn̩]. 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 53098, this pair ranks #1,071,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of herben vs Herde
Shared letters: ehr. Private to "herben": bn. Private to "Herde": d.
"herben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Herde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "herben" and "Herde" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "herben" or "Herde"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "herben" 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 #1,071,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "herben" and "Herde" 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 #1,071,200 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.