herbe

\ɛʁb\

/\ɛʁb\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“herbe” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,862. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,862
frequency rank, French
1,969
“H” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (sens strict) Un végétal vert, monocotylédone ou dicotylédone, à tige fine et molle car non ligneuse (pas un tronc ni une stipe), vivace ou annuel, et qui perd tiges et feuilles en hiver.

Corpus desk

Index FR-herbe · herbe · French

herbe · rank #4,862 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,862
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,969
  • PHOTO-FINISH gosses

Nearest frequency peer: gosses (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « herbe »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « herbe » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

herbe vs here
80% similar
herbe vs hero
60% similar
herbe vs Herr
40% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for herbe
PropertyValue
Headwordherbe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɛʁb\
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,862
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « herbe »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).herbese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « gosses » (#4,861), « fonctionner » (#4,860), « industries » (#4,864). Parmi 1,969 lemmes en « H », « herbe » est au #4,862. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around herbe (IPA \ɛʁb\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,862 among 1,969 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for herbe, with forms such as "ehrbe", "hebre", and "herbbe". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "here", "hero", "Herr", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is herbe, spelled H-E-R-B-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    (sens strict) Un végétal vert, monocotylédone ou dicotylédone, à tige fine et molle car non ligneuse (pas un tronc ni une stipe), vivace ou annuel, et qui perd tiges et feuilles en hiver.
  2. 2
    Une plante qui a des propriétés particulières.
  3. 3
    Ensemble des plantes qui couvrent les pâturages, les prairies, les lieux peu fréquentés, etc., et que l’on coupe ordinairement pour la nourriture des chevaux et des bestiaux.
  4. 4
    Entre comme terme générique dans plusieurs des noms vulgaires donnés aux plantes usuelles ou très communes.
  5. 5
    Nom donné au chanvre indien, ainsi qu’à ses fleurs séchées, la marijuana.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how herbe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Sibbaldie, […]. Ce genre , qui est figuré pl. 221 des Illustrations de Lamarck, renferme des herbes à feuilles ternées, à folioles simples, dentées et découpées; à fleurs axillaires et terminales, quelquefois décagynes.
  2. Les herbes, nourriture première des herbivores, sont de qualité différente selon les lieux qui les produisent, et les fourrages ne sont pas également composés partout.

This word in other languages

grass(English)hierba(Español)Gras(Deutsch)erva(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehrbe
  • hebre
  • herbbe
  • hereb
  • herrbe
  • hherbe
  • hrebe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of herbe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ehrbe2hebre2herbbe1hereb2herrbe1hherbe1hrebe2
Edit distance from "herbe"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "herbe"?
"herbe" is spelled H-E-R-B-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛʁb\.
What does "herbe" mean?
As a noun, "herbe" means: (sens strict) Un végétal vert, monocotylédone ou dicotylédone, à tige fine et molle car non ligneuse (pas un tronc ni une stipe), vivace ou annuel, et qui perd tiges et feuilles en hiver.
What words are commonly confused with "herbe"?
"herbe" is commonly confused with "here", "hero", "Herr". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "herbe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "herbe" is \ɛʁb\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "herbe" come from?
"herbe" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "herbe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

exige#4,858câble#4,849Obama#4,879bosse#4,834

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

pattes7 variantssenti7 variantsTokyo7 variantsanimé7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list