hemvsHsiWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: hem is a intj, Hsi is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hem” is an intj and “Hsi” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,236
“hem” frequency rank
#47,104
“Hsi” frequency rank
68340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hem Hsi
Definition Used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound. A surname.

Letter map: hem vs Hsi

Shared letters muted; letters that set hem and Hsi apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. hem (CVC) and Hsi (CCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
hem
3 ch
Hsi

Role in the sentence - hem and Hsi

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hem is anintj and Hsianame. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68340, 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/. Hsi is at rank #47,104, tagged as aname.

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 68340, this pair ranks #59,308 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hem vs Hsi

Shared letters: h. Private to "hem": em. Private to "Hsi": is.

"hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Hsi" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hem" for "Hsi" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hem" is an intj and "Hsi" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hem" or "Hsi"?
"hem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,236 in our English list, against #47,104 for "Hsi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hem" and "Hsi".

  • Full dictionary entry for "hem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hsi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,308 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hem" and "Hsi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "HIIT vs Hsi". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #59,308 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list