HundevsHunnenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,343
“Hunde” frequency rank
#41,907
“Hunnen” frequency rank
44250
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hunde Hunnen
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Hund Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Hunne

Where the eye mixes Hunde and Hunnen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hunde runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Hunnen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Hunde
6 ch
Hunnen

Visual trap between Hunde and Hunnen

A purely visual mix-up. Hunde ([ˈhʊndə]) and Hunnen ([ˈhʊnən]) 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 44250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hunde is recorded at frequency rank #2,343, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊndə]. Hunnen is at rank #41,907, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊnən].

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 44250, this pair ranks #1,392,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hunde vs Hunnen

Shared letters: ehnu. Private to "Hunde": d. Private to "Hunnen": -.

"Hunde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Hunnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hunde ← hhunde · hnude · hudne · hundde · huned · hunnde · uhnde
  • Hunnen ← hhunnen · hnunen · hunen · hunenn · hunnenn · hunnne · uhnnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hunde" and "Hunnen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhʊndə] versus [ˈhʊnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hunde" vs "Hunnen" - which ranks higher?
"Hunde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,343 in our German list, against #41,907 for "Hunnen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hunde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hunnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,392,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hunde" and "Hunnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "humanen vs Hunnen". 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 #1,392,178 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