HerdevsHerrenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,505
“Herde” frequency rank
#954
“Herren” frequency rank
13459
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Herde Herren
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 Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Herr (auch Herrn)

Where the eye mixes Herde and Herren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Herde runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Herren's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Herde
6 ch
Herren

Look-alike desk: Herde vs Herren

A purely visual mix-up. Herde ([ˈheːɐ̯də]) and Herren ([ˈhɛʁən]) 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 13459, 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]. Herren is at rank #954, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛʁən].

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 13459, this pair ranks #1,957,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Herde vs Herren

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Herde": d. Private to "Herren": n.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Herde ← ehrde · hedre · herdde · hered · herrde · hherde · hrede
  • Herren ← ehrren · heren · herern · herrenn · herrne · hherren · hreren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Herde" for "Herren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈheːɐ̯də] versus [ˈhɛʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Herde" vs "Herren" - which ranks higher?
"Herren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #954 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Herde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Herren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,957,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Herde" and "Herren" 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 #1,957,851 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