Which to use
“hours” and “house” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,708
- “hours” frequency rank
- #4,210
- “house” frequency rank
- 32918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hours | house |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural des Substantivs hour | Wohnort des Menschen; Gebäude, das errichtet wurde, um in ihm zu wohnen |
Where the eye mixes hours and house
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hours with house
A purely visual mix-up. hours ([aʊə(ɹ)z]) and house ([haʊs]) 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 32918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hours is recorded at frequency rank #28,708, classified as anoun, pronounced [aʊə(ɹ)z]. house is at rank #4,210, tagged as anoun, pronounced [haʊs].
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 32918, this pair ranks #1,697,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hours vs house
Shared letters: hosu. Private to "hours": r. Private to "house": e.
"hours" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "house" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hours" for "house" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hours" vs "house" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hours" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "house" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,697,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hours" and "house" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Homs vs hours". 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 #1,697,243 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.