hörevshörteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,115
“höre” frequency rank
#3,195
“hörte” frequency rank
5310
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature höre hörte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hören 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hören

Where the eye mixes höre and hörte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
höre
5 ch
hörte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. höre ([ˈhøːʁə]) and hörte ([ˈhøːɐ̯tə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5310, 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]. hörte is at rank #3,195, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːɐ̯tə].

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 5310, this pair ranks #1,995,165 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of höre vs hörte

Shared letters: ehrö. Private to "höre": -. Private to "hörte": t.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "höre" and "hörte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhøːʁə] versus [ˈhøːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "höre" or "hörte"?
"höre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,115 in our German list, against #3,195 for "hörte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "höre" and "hörte". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "höre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hörte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,995,165 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "höre" and "hörte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haze vs höre". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list