HirsevshöreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Hirse is a noun, höre is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Hirse” is a noun and “höre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,965
“Hirse” frequency rank
#2,115
“höre” frequency rank
46080
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hirse höre
Definition Sammelbezeichnung für einige kleinfrüchtige Getreidearten aus der Familie der Süßgräser 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hören

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Hirse and höre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Hirse
4 ch
höre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hirse is [ˈhɪʁzə] while höre is [ˈhøːʁə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hirse is recorded at frequency rank #43,965, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪʁzə]. höre is at rank #2,115, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːʁə].

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 46080, this pair ranks #1,331,297 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hirse vs höre

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Hirse": is. Private to "höre": ö.

"Hirse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "höre" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hirsehhirse · hirrse · hirsse · hisre · hrise

Frequency comparison

Hirse#43,965
höre#2,115

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hirse" and "höre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hirse" is a noun and "höre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Hirse" or "höre"?
"höre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,115 in our German list, against #43,965 for "Hirse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Hirse vs höre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Hirse”; for a verb, it's “höre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Hirse” 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