hiervshöherWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hier is a adverb, höher is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hier” is an adverb and “höher” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#68
“hier” frequency rank
#1,664
“höher” frequency rank
1732
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hier höher
Definition an diesem Ort Prädikative und adverbielle Form des Komparativs des Adjektivs hoch

Where the eye mixes hier and höher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
hier
5 ch
höher

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hier is [hiːɐ̯] while höher is [ˈhøːɐ]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hier is recorded at frequency rank #68, classified as anadv, pronounced [hiːɐ̯]. höher is at rank #1,664, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhøːɐ].

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 1732, this pair ranks #2,003,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hier vs höher

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "hier": i. Private to "höher": ö.

"hier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "höher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hierheir · hhier · hierr · hire · iher

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hier" and "höher" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hier" is an adverb and "höher" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hier" or "höher"?
"hier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #68 in our German list, against #1,664 for "höher". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list