Which to use
“horch” and “hören” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,904
- “horch” frequency rank
- #702
- “hören” frequency rank
- 42606
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | horch | hören |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs horchen | mit den Ohren |
Where the eye mixes horch and hören
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. horch (CVCCC) and hören (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses horch with hören
A purely visual mix-up. horch ([hɔʁç]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
horch is recorded at frequency rank #41,904, classified as averb, pronounced [hɔʁç]. 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 42606, this pair ranks #1,444,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of horch vs hören
Shared letters: hr. Private to "horch": co. Private to "hören": enö.
"horch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "hören" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- horch ← hhorch · hocrh · horcch · horchh · horhc · horrch · hroch · ohrch
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "horch" and "hören" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "horch" or "hören"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "horch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hören" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,444,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "horch" and "hören" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Harsch vs horch". 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 #1,444,187 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.