Which to use
“Herde” is a noun and “herrje” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,505
- “Herde” frequency rank
- #31,098
- “herrje” frequency rank
- 43603
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Herde | herrje |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Ausruf der Verwunderung oder des Entsetzens |
Where the eye mixes Herde and herrje
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Herde runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against herrje's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Herde and herrje
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Herde is [ˈheːɐ̯də] while herrje is [hɛʁˈjeː]. 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 (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43603, 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]. herrje is at rank #31,098, tagged as anintj, pronounced [hɛʁˈjeː].
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 43603, this pair ranks #1,412,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Herde vs herrje
Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Herde": d. Private to "herrje": j.
"Herde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "herrje" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Herde" and "herrje" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Herde" or "herrje"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Herde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "herrje" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,412,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Herde" and "herrje" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Heere vs herrje". 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 #1,412,868 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.