Which to use
“had” is a verb and “hey” is a phrase - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,906
- “had” frequency rank
- #1,010
- “hey” frequency rank
- 16916
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | had | hey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs have | als Grußwort |
Where the eye mixes had and hey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: had is [hæd] while hey is [hɛɪ̯]. 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 phrase), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16916, 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]. hey is at rank #1,010, tagged as aphrase, pronounced [hɛɪ̯].
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 16916, this pair ranks #1,931,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of had vs hey
Shared letters: h. Private to "had": ad. Private to "hey": ey.
"had" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "had" and "hey" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "had" or "hey"?
What to do next
You've compared "had" and "hey". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "had" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,931,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "had" and "hey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "had vs haze". Nearby pair
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.