holdevshöreWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#45,352
“holde” frequency rank
#2,115
“höre” frequency rank
47467
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature holde höre
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hold 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hören

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set holde and höre apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
holde
4 ch
höre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: holde is [ˈhɔldə] 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

holde is recorded at frequency rank #45,352, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔldə]. 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 47467, this pair ranks #1,283,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of holde vs höre

Shared letters: eh. Private to "holde": dlo. Private to "höre": .

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • holdehholde · hlode · hodle · holdde · holed · hollde · ohlde

Frequency comparison

holde#45,352
höre#2,115

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "holde" and "höre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "holde" is an adjective and "höre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "holde" or "höre"?
"höre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,115 in our German list, against #45,352 for "holde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering holde vs höre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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