Which to use
“hörten” and “husten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,457
- “hörten” frequency rank
- #10,111
- “husten” frequency rank
- 21568
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hörten | husten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hören | heftig Luft aus der Lunge ausstoßen |
Where the eye mixes hörten and husten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hörten and husten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: hörten vs husten
A purely visual mix-up. hörten ([ˈhøːɐ̯tn̩]) and husten ([ˈhuːstn̩]) 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 21568, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hörten is recorded at frequency rank #11,457, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːɐ̯tn̩]. husten is at rank #10,111, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhuːstn̩].
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 21568, this pair ranks #1,884,730 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hörten vs husten
Shared letters: ehnt. Private to "hörten": rö. Private to "husten": su.
"hörten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "husten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- husten ← hhusten · hsuten · husetn · hussten · hustenn · hustne · hustten · hutsen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hörten" and "husten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "hörten" or "husten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hörten" and "husten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hörten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "husten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,884,730 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hörten" and "husten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harren vs hörten". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,884,730 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.