he'svsHeuWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: he's is a abbrev, Heu is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“he's” is an abbrev and “Heu” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,620
“he's” frequency rank
#17,327
“Heu” frequency rank
46947
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature he's Heu
Definition he is: er ist getrocknetes Gras; in der Sprache der Landwirtschaft insbesondere der erste Grasschnitt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set he's and Heu apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
he's
3 ch
Heu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: he's is anabbrev and Heuanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

he's is recorded at frequency rank #29,620, classified as anabbrev, pronounced […]. Heu is at rank #17,327, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɔɪ̯].

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 46947, this pair ranks #1,301,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of he's vs Heu

Shared letters: eh. Private to "he's": s. Private to "Heu": u.

"he's" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Heu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

he's#29,620
Heu#17,327

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "he's" and "Heu" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "he's" is an abbrev and "Heu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "he's" or "Heu"?
"Heu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,327 in our German list, against #29,620 for "he's". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering he's vs Heu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an abbrev, it's “he's”; for a noun, it's “Heu”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “he's” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list