he
/ˈhiː/
"he" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“he” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #22) as a pronoun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #22
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who identifies as male, or animal already known or implied.
Corpus desk
Index EN-he · he · English
he · rank #22 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #22
- LEN-SHORT 2 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH at
Nearest frequency peer: at (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “he”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- are
are
99,982 corpus weight
- have
have
99,981 corpus weight
- at
at
99,980 corpus weight
- he
he
99,979 corpus weight
- not
not
99,978 corpus weight
- by
by
99,977 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “he” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | he |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Pronoun |
| IPA | /ˈhiː/ |
| Letters | 2 |
| Frequency rank | #22 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “he” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for he is neighbouring look-alikes ("hi", "ho", …), not just typos; it is apronoun pronounced /ˈhiː/. Frequency #22 among 2,646 “H” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
No generated misspelling entries exist for he in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hi", "ho", "HR", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English he, from Old English hē, from Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱís (“this”). Cognate with Scots he (“he”), North Frisian he, hi (“he”), Saterland Frisian hie (“he”), West Fr… The correct English form is he, spelled H-E.
Definition
- 1A person who identifies as male, or animal already known or implied.
- 2They; he or she (a person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant).
- 3It; an animal whose gender is unknown.
- 4A genderless object regarded as masculine, such as certain stars or planets (e.g. Sun, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter) or certain ships.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how he appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
That friend of your cousin's, he's on the phone.
[…]purſued his vnneighbourly purpoſe in ſuch ſort: that hee being the ſtronger perſwader, and ſhe (belike) too credulous in beleeuing or elſe ouer-feeble in reſiſting, from priuate imparlance, they fell to action; and continued their cloſe fight a long while together, vnſeene and vvithout ſuſpition, no doubt to their equall ioy and contentment.
Etymology
From Middle English he, from Old English hē, from Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱís (“this”). Cognate with Scots he (“he”), North Frisian he, hi (“he”), Saterland Frisian hie (“he”), West Frisian hy (“he”), Dutch hij, ie (“he”), German Low German he (“he”), Middle High German her (“he”) Central Franconian hä (“he”), Gothic *𐌷𐌹𐍃 (*his, “this”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "he"?
What does "he" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "he"?
How do you pronounce "he"?
What is the origin of the word "he"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
What to do next
You've looked up "he". Here's where to go from here.
- "he" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "hi". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #22 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "H" letter cohort. H–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.