Which to use
“hes” is a determiner and “hewn” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,568
- “hes” frequency rank
- #43,189
- “hewn” frequency rank
- 50757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hes | hewn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative form of his when pronounced as he's; belonging to him. | Made or crafted by cutting, whittling down. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hes and hewn 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: hes is /hiːz/ while hewn is /hjuːn/. 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 (determiner vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hes is recorded at frequency rank #7,568, classified as adet, pronounced /hiːz/. hewn is at rank #43,189, tagged as anadj, pronounced /hjuːn/.
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 50757, this pair ranks #171,418 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hes vs hewn
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hes": s. Private to "hewn": nw.
"hes" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hewn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hewn ← ehwn · henw · hewnn · hewwn · hhewn
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hes" and "hewn" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hes" or "hewn"?
Remembering hes vs hewn
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “hes”; for an adjective, it's “hewn”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hes” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable