herbervsHerdeConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#39,991
“herber” frequency rank
#12,505
“Herde” frequency rank
52496
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature herber Herde
Definition Nominativ 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 herber and Herde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
herber
5 ch
Herde

Look-alike desk: herber vs Herde

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: herber is [ˈhɛʁbɐ] 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 52496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

herber is recorded at frequency rank #39,991, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛʁbɐ]. 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 52496, this pair ranks #1,094,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of herber vs Herde

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "herber": b. Private to "Herde": d.

"herber" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Herde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • herberehrber · hebrer · herbber · herberr · herbre · herebr · herrber · hherber
  • Herdeehrde · hedre · herdde · hered · herrde · hherde · hrede

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "herber" and "Herde" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "herber" is an adjective and "Herde" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "herber" vs "Herde" - which ranks higher?
"Herde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,505 in our German list, against #39,991 for "herber". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "herber" and "Herde" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "herber" 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 #1,094,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "herber" and "Herde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemer vs herber". 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 #1,094,484 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