hadvshejWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: had is a verb, hej is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“had” is a verb and “hej” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,906
“had” frequency rank
#48,213
“hej” frequency rank
64119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature had hej
Definition Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs have informelle Grußformel

Where the eye mixes had and hej

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
had
3 ch
hej

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: had is [hæd] while hej is [haɪ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

had is recorded at frequency rank #15,906, classified as averb, pronounced [hæd]. hej is at rank #48,213, tagged as anintj, pronounced [haɪ].

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 64119, this pair ranks #652,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of had vs hej

Shared letters: h. Private to "had": ad. Private to "hej": ej.

"had" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hej" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "had" and "hej" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "had" is a verb and "hej" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "had" or "hej"?
"had" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,906 in our German list, against #48,213 for "hej". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "had" and "hej". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "had" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hej" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #652,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "had" and "hej" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hej". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list