Which to use
“hem” and “ho” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,236
- “hem” frequency rank
- #4,951
- “ho” frequency rank
- 26187
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hem | ho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound. | Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts. |
Where the eye mixes hem and ho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. hem (/hɛm/) and ho (/həʊ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26187, 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/. ho is at rank #4,951, tagged as anintj, pronounced /həʊ/.
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 26187, this pair ranks #388,566 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hem vs ho
Shared letters: h. Private to "hem": em. Private to "ho": o.
"hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ho" · 2 letters · shape CV