Which to use
“he” is a pronoun and “hod” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22
- “he” frequency rank
- #49,395
- “hod” frequency rank
- 49417
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | he | hod |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person who identifies as male, or animal already known or implied. | To bob up and down on horseback, as an inexperienced rider may do; to jog. |
Where the eye mixes he and hod
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses he with hod
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: he is /ˈhiː/ while hod is /hɒd/. 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 (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
he is recorded at frequency rank #22, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈhiː/. hod is at rank #49,395, tagged as averb, pronounced /hɒd/.
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 49417, this pair ranks #183,833 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of he vs hod
Shared letters: h. Private to "he": e. Private to "hod": do.
"he" · 2 letters · shape CV · "hod" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "he" for "hod" ever safe?
Which is more common, "he" or "hod"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "he" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hod" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #183,833 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "he" and "hod" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hod vs hoke". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #183,833 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.