Which to use
“half” and “help” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #374
- “half” frequency rank
- #171
- “help” frequency rank
- 545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | half | help |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One of two usually roughly equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided. | Action given to provide assistance; aid. |
Where the eye mixes half and help
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: half vs help
A purely visual mix-up. half (/hɑːf/) and help (/hɛlp/) 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 545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
half is recorded at frequency rank #374, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɑːf/. help is at rank #171, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hɛlp/.
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 545, this pair ranks #529,231 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of half vs help
Shared letters: hl. Private to "half": af. Private to "help": ep.
"half" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "help" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "half" for "help" ever safe?
Which is more common, "half" or "help"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "half" and "help" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "half" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "help" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #529,231 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "half" and "help" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hak vs half". 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 #529,231 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.