hejvshumWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hej is a intj, hum is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hej” is an intj and “hum” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,213
“hej” frequency rank
#47,488
“hum” frequency rank
95701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hej hum
Definition informelle Grußformel männliches Personalpronomen der dritten Person Singular im Objektiv(≘ Dativ und Akkusativ): ihm, ihn

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hej and hum apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
hej
3 ch
hum

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hej is anintj and humapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95701, 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]. hum is at rank #47,488, tagged as apron, pronounced […].

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 95701, this pair ranks #10,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hej vs hum

Shared letters: h. Private to "hej": ej. Private to "hum": mu.

"hej" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hum" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

hej#48,213
hum#47,488

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hej" and "hum" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hej" is an intj and "hum" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hej" or "hum"?
"hum" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #47,488 in our German list, against #48,213 for "hej". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hej vs hum

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an intj, it's “hej”; for a pronoun, it's “hum”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hej” 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