Which to use
“hers” is a pronoun and “hew” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,460
- “hers” frequency rank
- #46,513
- “hew” frequency rank
- 53973
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hers | hew |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That or those belonging to her; the possessive case of she, used without a following noun. | To chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hers and hew apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hers is /ˈhɜːz/ while hew is /hjuː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hers is recorded at frequency rank #7,460, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈhɜːz/. hew is at rank #46,513, tagged as averb, pronounced /hjuː/.
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 53973, this pair ranks #144,729 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hers vs hew
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hers": rs. Private to "hew": w.
"hers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hew" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hers ← ehrs · herrs · herss · hesr · hhers · hres
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hers" and "hew" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hers" or "hew"?
Remembering hers vs hew
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “hers”; for a verb, it's “hew”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hers” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable