Which to use
“heel” is a noun and “hej” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,960
- “heel” frequency rank
- #48,213
- “hej” frequency rank
- 97173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heel | hej |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der hintere Teil des Fußes unter dem Knöchel | informelle Grußformel |
Where the eye mixes heel and hej
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. heel runs 4 letters (CVVC) against hej's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between heel and hej
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heel is [hiːl] while hej is [haɪ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 97173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heel is recorded at frequency rank #48,960, classified as anoun, pronounced [hiːl]. 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 97173, this pair ranks #4,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of heel vs hej
Shared letters: eh. Private to "heel": l. Private to "hej": j.
"heel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "hej" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- heel ← ehel · heell · hheel
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "heel" and "hej" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "heel" or "hej"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "heel" 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 #4,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heel" and "hej" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs Hemer". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #4,675 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.