HerdevsHerzWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,505
“Herde” frequency rank
#794
“Herz” frequency rank
13299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Herde Herz
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 das Zentralorgan für den Blutkreislauf

Where the eye mixes Herde and Herz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Herde runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Herz's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Herde
4 ch
Herz

Look-alike desk: Herde vs Herz

A purely visual mix-up. Herde ([ˈheːɐ̯də]) and Herz ([hɛʁt͡s]) 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 13299, 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]. Herz is at rank #794, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛʁt͡s].

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 13299, this pair ranks #1,958,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Herde vs Herz

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Herde": d. Private to "Herz": z.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Herde ← ehrde · hedre · herdde · hered · herrde · hherde · hrede
  • Herz ← ehrz · herrz · herzz · hezr · hherz · hrez

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Herde" and "Herz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈheːɐ̯də] versus [hɛʁt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Herde" or "Herz" show up more?
"Herz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #794 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.

After this comparison

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 "Herz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Herde" and "Herz" 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 #1,958,865 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