Which to use
“herbe” is a noun and “hérite” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,862
- “herbe” frequency rank
- #21,652
- “hérite” frequency rank
- 26514
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | herbe | hérite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (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. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de hériter. |
Where the eye mixes herbe and hérite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. herbe runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against hérite's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between herbe and hérite
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: herbe is \ɛʁb\ while hérite is \e.ʁit\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
herbe is recorded at frequency rank #4,862, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛʁb\. hérite is at rank #21,652, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ʁit\.
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 26514, this pair ranks #334,533 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of herbe vs hérite
Shared letters: ehr. Private to "herbe": b. Private to "hérite": ité.
"herbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hérite" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- herbe ← ehrbe · hebre · herbbe · hereb · herrbe · hherbe · hrebe
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "herbe" for "hérite" ever safe?
Frequency check: "herbe" vs "hérite" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "herbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hérite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #334,533 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "herbe" and "hérite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hérite vs hésita". 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 #334,533 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.