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PlainSpell

eh

/ɛ/interjection, verb, adjective, adverb, particle

eh is spelled E-H: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, eh means “Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in eh?

Letters2: E-H
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing18 times per million words; the 4,589th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is eh?

Eh appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,589th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce eh?

  • Canada /eɪ/
  • /e/
  • US /ɛ/

As an interjection (“Hey, oi; said to get someone's attention”): [ˈe˦˧], [ˈe˧], [eɪ˧˨].

As an interjection (“an attention grabber”): /eɪ/.

Eh has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-ca-eh.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_eh.ogg, Eh-sound.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with eh

Also written: aye, ehh, ehhh, heh, leh.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with eh?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as eh from its last stressed vowel (/ɛ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of eh

  • ay
  • ehh
  • ehhh
  • ehs present, singular, he/she/it
  • ehing participle, present
  • ehed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does eh mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

interjection

  1. 1

    AustraliaCanadaCommonwealthIndiaIrelandUKinformalUsed as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said.

    These hot dogs are pretty good, eh?

  2. 2

    In isolation, a request for repetition or clarification of what has just been said.

    –I've been studying Graphiurus murinus. –Eh? Studying what?

  3. 3

    In isolation, expressing surprise or confusion.

    –You're going to be a dad! –Eh? You're joking!

  4. 4

    CanadaAn interjection used to ascertain the continued attention of someone addressed by the speaker.

    I went to the restaurant, eh, but my friends didn't show up.

  5. 5

    Expressing apathy or lack of enthusiasm; meh.

    –Do you feel like going out tonight? –Eh, I don't know.

  6. 6

    Expressing apprehension following or preceding a reasoning or excuse; uh.

    –Why is it like this? –Eh, It's like that eh.

  7. 7

    Hey, oi; said to get someone's attention.

  8. 8

    An interjection expressing disapproval.

    Eh, please don’t say that...

  9. 9

    Huh?; expresses confusion.

  10. 10

    an attention grabber

    Eh, come here!

  11. 11

    informalA greeting between friends (typically male) or display of approval.

verb

  1. 1

    To use the interjection eh.

adjective

  1. 1

    informalOf mediocre quality; unremarkable.

    My French fries were eh.

adverb

  1. 1

    Used to negate the following verb; (am/are/is/do/does) not.

symbol

as eH
  1. 1

    redox potential (in volts).

adjective

as EH
  1. 1

    Initialism of emotionally handicapped.

noun

as EH
  1. 1

    Initialism of epididymal hypertension.

particle

  1. 1

    Alternative form of leh.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Eh in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchhein, tu sais, n'est-ce pas (used as a tag question)
Germangell, oder, ne, nicht wahr (used as a tag question), nicht ((Canada) interjection used to ascertain…)
Portuguesehein, né (used as a tag question)
Spanishno, ah, eh (used as a tag question), qué, cómo (used to mean “What?”)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does eh come from?

Natural exclamation; first recorded mid-16th century. Perhaps an unstressed variant of aye (“yes, yeah”). The Philippine sense is possibly influenced by Tagalog e and/or Spanish eh.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after eh