höhvshumConfusable pair

Quick tell: höh is a verb, hum is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“höh” is a verb and “hum” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,239
“höh” frequency rank
#47,488
“hum” frequency rank
95727
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature höh hum
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs höhen männliches Personalpronomen der dritten Person Singular im Objektiv(≘ Dativ und Akkusativ): ihm, ihn

Letter map: höh vs hum

Shared letters muted; letters that set höh and hum apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. höh and hum follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
höh
3 ch
hum

Grammar separator: höh vs hum

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: höh is averb and humapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

höh is recorded at frequency rank #48,239, classified as averb, pronounced [høː]. hum is at rank #47,488, tagged as apron, pronounced […].

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 95727, this pair ranks #10,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of höh vs hum

Shared letters: h. Private to "höh": ö. Private to "hum": mu.

"höh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hum" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "höh" and "hum" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "höh" is a verb and "hum" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "höh" or "hum"?
"hum" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #47,488 in our German list, against #48,239 for "höh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "höh" and "hum". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "höh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "höh" and "hum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hum vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #10,310 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