Which to use
“hem” is an intj and “him” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,236
- “hem” frequency rank
- #82
- “him” frequency rank
- 21318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hem | him |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound. | A masculine pronoun; he as a grammatical object. |
Where the eye mixes hem and him
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hem with him
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hem is /hɛm/ while him is /ˈhɪm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “hem” becomes i in “him”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21318, 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/. him is at rank #82, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈhɪm/.
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 21318, this pair ranks #424,768 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hem vs him
Shared letters: hm. Private to "hem": e. Private to "him": i.
"hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "him" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hem" for "him" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hem" vs "him" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hem" and "him" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "him" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #424,768 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hem" and "him" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hem vs HRW". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #424,768 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.