HörernvshörtenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#43,982
“Hörern” frequency rank
#11,457
“hörten” frequency rank
55439
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hörern hörten
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Hörer 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hören

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Hörern and hörten apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Hörern
6 ch
hörten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hörern is [ˈhøːʁɐn] while hörten is [ˈhøːɐ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hörern is recorded at frequency rank #43,982, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːʁɐn]. hörten is at rank #11,457, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːɐ̯tn̩].

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 55439, this pair ranks #979,498 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hörern vs hörten

Shared letters: ehnrö. Private to "Hörern": -. Private to "hörten": t.

"Hörern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "hörten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

Hörern#43,982
hörten#11,457

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hörern" and "hörten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hörern" is a noun and "hörten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Hörern" or "hörten"?
"hörten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,457 in our German list, against #43,982 for "Hörern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Hörern vs hörten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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