hersvshosConfusable pair

Quick tell: hers is a pronoun, hos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hers” is a pronoun and “hos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,460
“hers” frequency rank
#31,601
“hos” frequency rank
39061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hers hos
Definition That or those belonging to her; the possessive case of she, used without a following noun. plural of ho

Letter map: hers vs hos

Shared letters muted; letters that set hers and hos apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
hers
3 ch
hos

Role in the sentence - hers and hos

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hers is apronoun and hosanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39061, 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/. hos is at rank #31,601, tagged as anoun.

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 39061, this pair ranks #280,203 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hers vs hos

Shared letters: hs. Private to "hers": er. Private to "hos": o.

"hers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hersehrs · herrs · herss · hesr · hhers · hres

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hers" and "hos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hers" is a pronoun and "hos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "hers" vs "hos" - which ranks higher?
"hers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,460 in our English list, against #31,601 for "hos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hers" and "hos".

  • Full dictionary entry for "hers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,203 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hers" and "hos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoke vs hos". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #280,203 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