hinterhervsHintertürWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hinterher is a adverb, Hintertür is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hinterher” is an adverb and “Hintertür” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,194
“hinterher” frequency rank
#19,255
“Hintertür” frequency rank
22449
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hinterher Hintertür
Definition nach etwas zusätzlicher Eingang zu einem Gebäude oder Raum, der sich an der Rückseite befindet

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hinterher and Hintertür apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
hinterher
9 ch
Hintertür

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hinterher is [hɪntɐˈheːɐ̯] while Hintertür is [ˈhɪntɐˌtyːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hinterher is recorded at frequency rank #3,194, classified as anadv, pronounced [hɪntɐˈheːɐ̯]. Hintertür is at rank #19,255, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪntɐˌtyːɐ̯].

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 22449, this pair ranks #1,874,028 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hinterher vs Hintertür

Shared letters: ehinrt. Private to "hinterher": -. Private to "Hintertür": ü.

"hinterher" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "Hintertür" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinterherhhinterher · hinetrher · hinnterher · hintehrer · hinterehr · hinterherr · hinterhher · hinterhre

Frequency comparison

hinterher#3,194
Hintertür#19,255

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hinterher" and "Hintertür" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hinterher" is an adverb and "Hintertür" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hinterher" or "Hintertür"?
"hinterher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,194 in our German list, against #19,255 for "Hintertür". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hinterher vs Hintertür

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “hinterher”; for a noun, it's “Hintertür”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hinterher” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list