HummelnvsHummerTell them apart

Which to use

“Hummeln” and “Hummer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,407
“Hummeln” frequency rank
#28,252
“Hummer” frequency rank
64659
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hummeln Hummer
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hummel großer, langgestreckter, gepanzerter, zehnfüßiger Krebs mit gewaltigen Scheren an europäischen und nordamerikanischen Küsten

Where the eye mixes Hummeln and Hummer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Hummeln
6 ch
Hummer

Visual trap between Hummeln and Hummer

A purely visual mix-up. Hummeln ([ˈhʊml̩n]) and Hummer ([ˈhʊmɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hummeln is recorded at frequency rank #36,407, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊml̩n]. Hummer is at rank #28,252, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊmɐ].

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 64659, this pair ranks #633,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hummeln vs Hummer

Shared letters: ehmu. Private to "Hummeln": ln. Private to "Hummer": r.

"Hummeln" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Hummer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hummelnhhummeln · hmumeln · humeln · humemln · hummelln · hummelnn · hummenl · hummlen
  • Hummerhhummer · hmumer · humemr · humer · hummerr · hummre · uhmmer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hummeln" for "Hummer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhʊml̩n] versus [ˈhʊmɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hummeln" vs "Hummer" - which ranks higher?
"Hummer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,252 in our German list, against #36,407 for "Hummeln". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Hummeln" and "Hummer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hummeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hummer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #633,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hummeln" and "Hummer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemer vs Hummer". 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 #633,717 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list