Which to use
“hash” is a noun and “hes” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,436
- “hash” frequency rank
- #7,568
- “hes” frequency rank
- 20004
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hash | hes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Food, especially meat and potatoes, chopped and mixed together. | Alternative form of his when pronounced as he's; belonging to him. |
Where the eye mixes hash and hes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hash with hes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hash is /ˈhæʃ/ while hes is /hiːz/. 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 determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hash is recorded at frequency rank #12,436, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhæʃ/. hes is at rank #7,568, tagged as adet, pronounced /hiːz/.
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 20004, this pair ranks #434,204 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hash vs hes
Shared letters: hs. Private to "hash": a. Private to "hes": e.
"hash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hes" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hash ← ahsh · hahs · hashh · hassh · hhash
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hash" and "hes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "hash" vs "hes" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hash" and "hes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hash" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,204 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hash" and "hes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hash vs hasta". 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 #434,204 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.