hörenvsHoseWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#702
“hören” frequency rank
#2,968
“Hose” frequency rank
3670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hören Hose
Definition mit den Ohren Kleidungsstück, das den Körper unterhalb der Taille (bis zu den Füßen) bedeckt und dabei jedes Bein einzeln umschließt. Der Plural ist auch für den Singular gebräuchlich, da eine Hose aus zwei Schläuchen (Hosen) besteht (vergleiche die Herkunft).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hören and Hose apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hören
4 ch
Hose

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hören is [ˈhøːʁən] while Hose is [ˈhoːzə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hören is recorded at frequency rank #702, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːʁən]. Hose is at rank #2,968, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhoːzə].

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 3670, this pair ranks #1,999,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hören vs Hose

Shared letters: eh. Private to "hören": nrö. Private to "Hose": os.

"hören" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Hose" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hosehhose · hoes · hosse · hsoe · ohse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hören" and "Hose" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hören" is a verb and "Hose" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hören" or "Hose"?
"hören" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #702 in our German list, against #2,968 for "Hose". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list