Which to use
“Hunger” is a noun and “hungern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,831
- “Hunger” frequency rank
- #18,930
- “hungern” frequency rank
- 21761
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hunger | hungern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Verlangen nach Essen | Hunger haben, hungrig sein |
Where the eye mixes Hunger and hungern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Hunger runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against hungern's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Hunger vs hungern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hunger is [ˈhʊŋɐ] while hungern is [ˈhʊŋɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Hunger” sits inside “hungern”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hunger is recorded at frequency rank #2,831, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊŋɐ]. hungern is at rank #18,930, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhʊŋɐn].
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 21761, this pair ranks #1,882,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hunger vs hungern
Shared letters: eghnru. Private to "Hunger": -. Private to "hungern": -.
"Hunger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hungern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Hunger" and "hungern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Hunger" or "hungern"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hunger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hungern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,882,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hunger" and "hungern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hungern 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 #1,882,476 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.