HerdevsHerrTell them apart

Which to use

“Herde” and “Herr” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,505
“Herde” frequency rank
#489
“Herr” frequency rank
12994
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Herde Herr
Definition 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 höfliche Bezeichnung für einen Mann

Where the eye mixes Herde and Herr

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Herde
4 ch
Herr

Why the eye confuses Herde with Herr

A purely visual mix-up. Herde ([ˈheːɐ̯də]) and Herr ([hɛʁ]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Herde is recorded at frequency rank #12,505, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈheːɐ̯də]. Herr is at rank #489, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛʁ].

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 12994, this pair ranks #1,960,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Herde vs Herr

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Herde": d. Private to "Herr": -.

"Herde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Herr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Herdeehrde · hedre · herdde · hered · herrde · hherde · hrede
  • Herrehrr · hherr · hrer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Herde" and "Herr" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈheːɐ̯də] versus [hɛʁ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Herde" vs "Herr" - which ranks higher?
"Herr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #489 in our German list, against #12,505 for "Herde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Herde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Herr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,960,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Herde" and "Herr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hardi vs Herde". 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 #1,960,770 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