Which to use
“Uhr” is a noun and “umher” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #200
- “Uhr” frequency rank
- #14,190
- “umher” frequency rank
- 14390
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Uhr | umher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument zur Messung der Zeit, Chronometer | in der Umgebung, im Umkreis |
Where the eye mixes Uhr and umher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Uhr runs 3 letters (VCC) against umher's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Uhr with umher
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Uhr is [uːɐ̯] while umher is [ʊmˈheːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14390, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Uhr is recorded at frequency rank #200, classified as anoun, pronounced [uːɐ̯]. umher is at rank #14,190, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ʊmˈheːɐ̯].
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 14390, this pair ranks #1,951,534 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Uhr vs umher
Shared letters: hru. Private to "Uhr": -. Private to "umher": em.
"Uhr" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "umher" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- umher ← muher · uhmer · umehr · umherr · umhher · umhre · ummher
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Uhr" for "umher" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Uhr" or "umher"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Uhr" and "umher" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Uhr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "umher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,951,534 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Uhr" and "umher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "umher vs umhin". 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 #1,951,534 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.