hiervshierzuWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#68
“hier” frequency rank
#2,600
“hierzu” frequency rank
2668
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hier hierzu
Definition an diesem Ort in diesem Fall, zu diesem Zweck

Where the eye mixes hier and hierzu

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

4 ch
hier
6 ch
hierzu

Look-alike desk: hier vs hierzu

A purely visual mix-up. hier ([hiːɐ̯]) and hierzu ([ˈhiːɐ̯ˈt͡suː]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hier” sits inside “hierzu”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hier is recorded at frequency rank #68, classified as anadv, pronounced [hiːɐ̯]. hierzu is at rank #2,600, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈhiːɐ̯ˈt͡suː].

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 2668, this pair ranks #2,001,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hier vs hierzu

Shared letters: ehir. Private to "hier": -. Private to "hierzu": uz.

"hier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "hierzu" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hierheir · hhier · hierr · hire · iher
  • hierzuheirzu · hhierzu · hierrzu · hieruz · hierzzu · hiezru · hirezu · iherzu

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hier" and "hierzu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([hiːɐ̯] versus [ˈhiːɐ̯ˈt͡suː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "hier" or "hierzu" show up more?
"hier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #68 in our German list, against #2,600 for "hierzu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "hier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hierzu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hier" and "hierzu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemer vs hier". 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 #2,001,846 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