Which to use
“herbe” and “hertz” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,862
- “herbe” frequency rank
- #38,836
- “hertz” frequency rank
- 43698
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | herbe | hertz |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Unité de fréquence permettant de mesurer le nombre de fois où un événement cyclique survient par seconde et dont le symbole est Hz. |
Where the eye mixes herbe and hertz
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. herbe (CVCCV) and hertz (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: herbe vs hertz
A purely visual mix-up. herbe (\ɛʁb\) and hertz (^((h aspiré))\ɛʁts\) 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 43698, 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\. hertz is at rank #38,836, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɛʁts\.
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 43698, this pair ranks #216,126 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of herbe vs hertz
Shared letters: ehr. Private to "herbe": b. Private to "hertz": tz.
"herbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hertz" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "herbe" and "hertz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "herbe" vs "hertz" - 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 "hertz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,126 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "herbe" and "hertz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hertz vs heurt". 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 #216,126 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.