helvsHisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“hel” and “His” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,474
“hel” frequency rank
#8,079
“His” frequency rank
55553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hel His
Definition Helium Ton mit 264 Hz und alle Töne im Oktavabstand dazu, um einen Halbton erhöhtes H

Where the eye mixes hel and His

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
hel
3 ch
His

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hel ([xɛl]) and His ([hɪs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hel is recorded at frequency rank #47,474, classified as anoun, pronounced [xɛl]. His is at rank #8,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɪs].

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 55553, this pair ranks #975,119 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hel vs His

Shared letters: h. Private to "hel": el. Private to "His": is.

"hel" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "His" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hel" and "His" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([xɛl] versus [hɪs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hel" or "His"?
"His" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,079 in our German list, against #47,474 for "hel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list