hierenvshierveWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“hieren” and “hierve” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,072
“hieren” frequency rank
#28,017
“hierve” frequency rank
63089
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hieren hierve
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de herir. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de hervir.

Where the eye mixes hieren and hierve

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. hieren (CVVCVC) and hierve (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
hieren
6 ch
hierve

Look-alike desk: hieren vs hierve

A purely visual mix-up. hieren ([ˈjeɾẽn]) and hierve ([ˈjeɾβ̞e]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hieren is recorded at frequency rank #35,072, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈjeɾẽn]. hierve is at rank #28,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈjeɾβ̞e].

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 63089, this pair ranks #49,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hieren vs hierve

Shared letters: ehir. Private to "hieren": n. Private to "hierve": v.

"hieren" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "hierve" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hieren ← heiren · hhieren · hieern · hierenn · hierne · hierren · hireen · iheren
  • hierve ← heirve · hhierve · hierbe · hierev · hierrve · hiervve · hievre · hireve

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hieren" for "hierve" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈjeɾẽn] versus [ˈjeɾβ̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hieren" vs "hierve" - which ranks higher?
"hierve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,017 in our Spanish list, against #35,072 for "hieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "hieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hierve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #49,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hieren" and "hierve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hieren vs hierva". 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 #49,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list