eftvsehWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: eft is a noun, eh is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eft” is a noun and “eh” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,891
“eft” frequency rank
#4,595
“eh” frequency rank
54486
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eft eh
Definition A newt, especially a smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris, syn. Triturus punctatus), of Europe. Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said.

Where the eye mixes eft and eh

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

3 ch
eft
2 ch
eh

Why the eye confuses eft with eh

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eft is /ɛft/ while eh is /eɪ/. 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 54486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eft is recorded at frequency rank #49,891, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɛft/. eh is at rank #4,595, tagged as anintj, pronounced /eɪ/.

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 54486, this pair ranks #140,749 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eft vs eh

Shared letters: e. Private to "eft": ft. Private to "eh": h.

"eft" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "eh" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eft" and "eh" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eft" is a noun and "eh" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "eft" vs "eh" - which ranks higher?
"eh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,595 in our English list, against #49,891 for "eft". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #140,749 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eft" and "eh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eft vs Eri". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #140,749 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list