Which to use
“hej” is an intj and “hen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,213
- “hej” frequency rank
- #34,162
- “hen” frequency rank
- 82375
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hej | hen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | informelle Grußformel | die Henne, ein weiblicher Vogel |
Where the eye mixes hej and hen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hej and hen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses hej with hen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hej is [haɪ] while hen is [hɛn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - j in “hej” becomes n in “hen”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hej is recorded at frequency rank #48,213, classified as anintj, pronounced [haɪ]. hen is at rank #34,162, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛn].
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 82375, this pair ranks #158,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hej vs hen
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hej": j. Private to "hen": n.
"hej" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hen" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hej" for "hen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hej" or "hen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hej" and "hen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hej" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hej" and "hen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hej". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #158,439 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.