her

/ˈhɜː/

//ˈhɜː// det

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"her" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“her” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #58) as a determiner. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#58
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Belonging to her (belonging to that female person or animal, or in poetic or old-fashioned language that ship, city, season, etc).

Corpus desk

Index EN-her · her · English

her · rank #58 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #58
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH there

Nearest frequency peer: there (-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 “her”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “her” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

her vs hi
33% similar
her vs ho
33% similar
her vs HR
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for her
PropertyValue
Headwordher
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechDeterminer
IPA/ˈhɜː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#58
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “her” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). her lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for her is neighbouring look-alikes ("hi", "ho", …), not just typos; it is adeterminer pronounced /ˈhɜː/. Frequency #58 among 2,646 “H” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for her in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. 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 here, hir, hire, from Old English hire (“her”), from Proto-Germanic *hezōi (dative and genitive singular of *hijō). Cognate with North Frisian hör, Saterland Frisian hier, hiere (“her”), West Frisian har (“her”), Dutch haar (“her”), Germ… The correct English form is her, spelled H-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Belonging to her (belonging to that female person or animal, or in poetic or old-fashioned language that ship, city, season, etc).
  2. 2
    Belonging to a person of unspecified gender (to counterbalance the traditional "his" in this sense).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how her appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This is her book
  2. Prodigal in everything, summer spreads her blessings with lavish unconcern, and waving her magic wand across the landscape of the world, she bids the sons of men to enter in [...]

Etymology

From Middle English here, hir, hire, from Old English hire (“her”), from Proto-Germanic *hezōi (dative and genitive singular of *hijō). Cognate with North Frisian hör, Saterland Frisian hier, hiere (“her”), West Frisian har (“her”), Dutch haar (“her”), German Low German hör (“her”), German ihr (“her”).

This word in other languages

su(Español)son(Français)ihr(Deutsch)seu(Português)

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 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "her"?
"her" is spelled H-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɜː/.
What does "her" mean?
As a determiner, "her" means: Belonging to her (belonging to that female person or animal, or in poetic or old-fashioned language that ship, city, season, etc).
What words are commonly confused with "her"?
"her" is commonly confused with "hi", "ho", "HR". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "her"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "her" is /ˈhɜː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "her"?
From Middle English here, hir, hire, from Old English hire (“her”), from Proto-Germanic *hezōi (dative and genitive singular of *hijō). Cognate with North Frisian hör, Saterland Frisian hier, hiere (“her”), West Frisian har (“her”), Dutch haar (“h... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "her", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

get#61had#54who#53she#64
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list