Which to use
“he's” is an abbrev and “hey” is a phrase - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,620
- “he's” frequency rank
- #1,010
- “hey” frequency rank
- 30630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | he's | hey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | he is: er ist | als Grußwort |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set he's and hey apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: he's is anabbrev and heyaphrase. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30630, 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 […]. 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 30630, this pair ranks #1,744,129 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of he's vs hey
Shared letters: eh. Private to "he's": s. Private to "hey": y.
"he's" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "he's" and "hey" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "he's" or "hey"?
Remembering he's vs hey
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 phrase, it's “hey”.
- 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