hoffevshöreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#716
“hoffe” frequency rank
#2,115
“höre” frequency rank
2831
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hoffe höre
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hoffen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hören

Where the eye mixes hoffe and höre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
hoffe
4 ch
höre

Visual trap between hoffe and höre

A purely visual mix-up. hoffe ([ˈhɔfə]) and höre ([ˈhøːʁə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hoffe is recorded at frequency rank #716, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɔfə]. 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 2831, this pair ranks #2,001,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hoffe vs höre

Shared letters: eh. Private to "hoffe": fo. Private to "höre": .

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hoffehfofe · hhoffe · hofe · hofef · ohffe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hoffe" for "höre" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɔfə] versus [ˈhøːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hoffe" or "höre"?
"hoffe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #716 in our German list, against #2,115 for "höre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hoffe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "höre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hoffe" and "höre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haze vs höre". 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 #2,001,488 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