höherevshöreWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,890
“höhere” frequency rank
#2,115
“höre” frequency rank
4005
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature höhere höre
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Komparativs des Adjektivs hoch 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hören

Where the eye mixes höhere and höre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. höhere runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against höre's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
höhere
4 ch
höre

Look-alike desk: höhere vs höre

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: höhere is [ˈhøːəʁə] while höre is [ˈhøːʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

höhere is recorded at frequency rank #1,890, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhøːəʁə]. 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 4005, this pair ranks #1,998,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of höhere vs höre

Shared letters: ehrö. Private to "höhere": -. Private to "höre": -.

"höhere" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "höre" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "höhere" and "höre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "höhere" is an adjective and "höre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "höhere" or "höre" show up more?
"höhere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,890 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "höhere" 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 #1,998,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "höhere" and "höre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haze vs höre". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,998,815 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