Which to use
“hem” and “hey” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,236
- “hem” frequency rank
- #787
- “hey” frequency rank
- 22023
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hem | hey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound. | An exclamation to get attention. |
Where the eye mixes hem and hey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. hem (/hɛm/) and hey (/heɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - m in “hem” becomes y in “hey”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hem is recorded at frequency rank #21,236, classified as anintj, pronounced /hɛm/. hey is at rank #787, tagged as anintj, pronounced /heɪ/.
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 22023, this pair ranks #419,640 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hem vs hey
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hem": m. Private to "hey": y.
"hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hey" · 3 letters · shape CVV