Which to use
“hören” and “hörte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #702
- “hören” frequency rank
- #3,195
- “hörte” frequency rank
- 3897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hören | hörte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit den Ohren | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hören |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hören and hörte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. hören ([ˈhøːʁən]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hören is recorded at frequency rank #702, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːʁən]. 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 3897, this pair ranks #1,999,096 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hören vs hörte
Shared letters: ehrö. Private to "hören": n. Private to "hörte": t.
"hören" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hörte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV