HirschevsHirseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,183
“Hirsche” frequency rank
#43,965
“Hirse” frequency rank
82148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hirsche Hirse
Definition veraltend: Dativ Singular des Substantivs Hirsch Sammelbezeichnung für einige kleinfrüchtige Getreidearten aus der Familie der Süßgräser

Where the eye mixes Hirsche and Hirse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Hirsche
5 ch
Hirse

Look-alike desk: Hirsche vs Hirse

A purely visual mix-up. Hirsche ([ˈhɪʁʃə]) and Hirse ([ˈhɪʁzə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hirsche is recorded at frequency rank #38,183, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪʁʃə]. Hirse is at rank #43,965, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪʁzə].

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 82148, this pair ranks #162,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Hirsche vs Hirse

Shared letters: ehirs. Private to "Hirsche": c. Private to "Hirse": -.

"Hirsche" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV  ·  "Hirse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hirschehhirsche · hircshe · hirrsche · hirscche · hirsceh · hirschhe · hirshce · hirssche
  • Hirsehhirse · hirrse · hirsse · hisre · hrise

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hirsche" for "Hirse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɪʁʃə] versus [ˈhɪʁzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hirsche" vs "Hirse" - which ranks higher?
"Hirsche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,183 in our German list, against #43,965 for "Hirse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Hirsche" and "Hirse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hirsche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hirse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #162,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hirsche" and "Hirse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hide vs Hirse". 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 #162,466 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