JahrvsJahreWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#138
“Jahr” frequency rank
#145
“Jahre” frequency rank
283
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Jahr Jahre
Definition periodischer wiederkehrender Zeitraum, etwa ein Umlauf der Erde um die Sonne, 12 Monate, 365 beziehungsweise 366 Tage Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Jahr

Where the eye mixes Jahr and Jahre

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

4 ch
Jahr
5 ch
Jahre

Look-alike desk: Jahr vs Jahre

A purely visual mix-up. Jahr ([jaːɐ̯]) and Jahre ([ˈjaːʁə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Jahr” sits inside “Jahre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Jahr is recorded at frequency rank #138, classified as anoun, pronounced [jaːɐ̯]. Jahre is at rank #145, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈjaːʁə].

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 283, this pair ranks #2,006,050 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Jahr vs Jahre

Shared letters: ahjr. Private to "Jahr": -. Private to "Jahre": e.

"Jahr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Jahre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Jahr ← ajhr · jahhr · jahrr · jarh · jhar · jjahr
  • Jahre ← ajhre · jaher · jahhre · jahrre · jarhe · jhare · jjahre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Jahr" for "Jahre" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([jaːɐ̯] versus [ˈjaːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Jahr" vs "Jahre" - which ranks higher?
"Jahr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #138 in our German list, against #145 for "Jahre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Jahr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Jahre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,006,050 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Jahr" and "Jahre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Jahre vs jährt". 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 #2,006,050 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