HordevshörenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Horde is a noun, hören is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Horde” is a noun and “hören” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,614
“Horde” frequency rank
#702
“hören” frequency rank
18316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Horde hören
Definition organisierte Gruppe von Individuen (meist Säugetieren), welche sich einen Lebensraum teilen mit den Ohren

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Horde
5 ch
hören

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Horde and hören form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Horde is recorded at frequency rank #17,614, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɔʁdə]. 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 18316, this pair ranks #1,919,411 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

Horde#17,614
hören#702

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Horde" and "hören" be used interchangeably?
No, "Horde" and "hören" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering Horde vs hören

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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