Which to use
“haven” and “hsien” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,797
- “haven” frequency rank
- #48,808
- “hsien” frequency rank
- 54605
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | haven | hsien |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A harbour or anchorage protected from the sea. | An administrative subdivision of Taiwan, commonly translated as county. (Alternative form of xian for mainland China.) |
Letter map: haven vs hsien
Shared letters muted; letters that set haven and hsien apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. haven (CVCVC) and hsien (CCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Spelling & dictionary notes on haven vs hsien
haven and hsien are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
haven is recorded at frequency rank #5,797, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈheɪvən/. hsien is at rank #48,808, tagged as anoun.
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 54605, this pair ranks #139,765 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of haven vs hsien
Shared letters: ehn. Private to "haven": av. Private to "hsien": is.
"haven" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hsien" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "haven" for "hsien" ever safe?
Which is more common, "haven" or "hsien"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "haven" and "hsien". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "haven" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hsien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #139,765 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "haven" and "hsien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hsien vs hymen". 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 #139,765 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.