hörevsHörerTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,115
“höre” frequency rank
#11,260
“Hörer” frequency rank
13375
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature höre Hörer
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hören Person, die einem Radioprogramm oder sonstigen Sprechern zuhört

Where the eye mixes höre and Hörer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. höre runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Hörer's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
höre
5 ch
Hörer

Why the eye confuses höre with Hörer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: höre is [ˈhøːʁə] while Hörer is [ˈhøːʁɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “höre” sits inside “Hörer”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

höre is recorded at frequency rank #2,115, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːʁə]. Hörer is at rank #11,260, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːʁɐ].

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 13375, this pair ranks #1,958,403 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of höre vs Hörer

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

"höre" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Hörer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "höre" for "Hörer" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "höre" is a verb and "Hörer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "höre" vs "Hörer" - which ranks higher?
"höre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,115 in our German list, against #11,260 for "Hörer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "höre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hörer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,403 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "höre" and "Hörer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemer vs Hörer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,958,403 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