Which to use
“head” is a noun and “hey” is a phrase - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,062
- “head” frequency rank
- #1,010
- “hey” frequency rank
- 12072
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | head | hey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Kopf | als Grußwort |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set head and hey apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
head and hey form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
head is recorded at frequency rank #11,062, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɛd]. 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 12072, this pair ranks #1,966,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "head" and "hey" be used interchangeably?
Remembering head vs hey
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “head”; for a phrase, it's “hey”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “head” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable