Which to use
“hinteren” is an adjective and “hinterher” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,933
- “hinteren” frequency rank
- #3,194
- “hinterher” frequency rank
- 10127
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hinteren | hinterher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hinter | nach etwas |
Where the eye mixes hinteren and hinterher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. hinteren runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against hinterher's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hinteren with hinterher
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hinteren is [ˈhɪntəʁən] while hinterher is [hɪntɐˈheːɐ̯]. 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 (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hinteren is recorded at frequency rank #6,933, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɪntəʁən]. hinterher is at rank #3,194, tagged as anadv, pronounced [hɪntɐˈheːɐ̯].
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 10127, this pair ranks #1,976,656 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hinteren vs hinterher
Shared letters: ehinrt. Private to "hinteren": -. Private to "hinterher": -.
"hinteren" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "hinterher" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hinteren" and "hinterher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "hinteren" or "hinterher" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hinteren" and "hinterher" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hinteren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hinterher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,976,656 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hinteren" and "hinterher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinteren vs hintersten". 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 #1,976,656 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.