Which to use
“heals” and “hearn” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,104
- “heals” frequency rank
- #34,519
- “hearn” frequency rank
- 53623
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heals | hearn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of heal | past participle of hear |
Where the eye mixes heals and hearn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses heals with hearn
A purely visual mix-up. heals (/hiːlz/) and hearn (/ˈhɪən/) 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 53623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heals is recorded at frequency rank #19,104, classified as averb, pronounced /hiːlz/. hearn is at rank #34,519, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhɪən/.
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 53623, this pair ranks #147,517 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of heals vs hearn
Shared letters: aeh. Private to "heals": ls. Private to "hearn": nr.
"heals" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "hearn" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "heals" and "hearn" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "heals" or "hearn"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "heals" and "hearn" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "heals" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hearn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #147,517 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heals" and "hearn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hearn vs Hoare". 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 #147,517 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.