hörvshörenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,601
“hör” frequency rank
#702
“hören” frequency rank
3303
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hör hören
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hören mit den Ohren

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
hör
5 ch
hören

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hör ([høːɐ̯]) and hören ([ˈhøːʁən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hör” sits inside “hören”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hör is recorded at frequency rank #2,601, classified as averb, pronounced [høːɐ̯]. hören is at rank #702, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːʁən].

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 3303, this pair ranks #2,000,504 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hör vs hören

Shared letters: hrö. Private to "hör": -. Private to "hören": en.

"hör" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hören" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hör" and "hören" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([høːɐ̯] versus [ˈhøːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hör" or "hören"?
"hören" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #702 in our German list, against #2,601 for "hör". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list