Which to use
“Herr” is a noun and “hör” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #489
- “Herr” frequency rank
- #2,601
- “hör” frequency rank
- 3090
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Herr | hör |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | höfliche Bezeichnung für einen Mann | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hören |
Where the eye mixes Herr and hör
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Herr with hör
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Herr is [hɛʁ] while hör is [høːɐ̯]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Herr is recorded at frequency rank #489, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɛʁ]. hör is at rank #2,601, tagged as averb, pronounced [høːɐ̯].
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 3090, this pair ranks #2,000,970 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Herr vs hör
Shared letters: hr. Private to "Herr": e. Private to "hör": ö.
"Herr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hör" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Herr ← ehrr · hherr · hrer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Herr" and "hör" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Herr" vs "hör" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Herr" and "hör" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Herr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hör" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,000,970 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Herr" and "hör" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "höh vs hör". 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 #2,000,970 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.