Which to use
“hey” is an intj and “his” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #787
- “hey” frequency rank
- #34
- “his” frequency rank
- 821
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hey | his |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An exclamation to get attention. | Belonging to him. |
Where the eye mixes hey and his
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hey vs his
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hey is /heɪ/ while his is /ɪ̈z/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hey is recorded at frequency rank #787, classified as anintj, pronounced /heɪ/. his is at rank #34, tagged as adet, pronounced /ɪ̈z/.
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 821, this pair ranks #528,722 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hey vs his
Shared letters: h. Private to "hey": ey. Private to "his": is.
"hey" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "his" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hey" for "his" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "hey" or "his" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hey" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "his" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #528,722 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hey" and "his" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hey vs HRW". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #528,722 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.