# his

> English word · Determiner · IPA /ɪ̈z/ · frequency rank #34

## Definitions
1. Belonging to him.
2. Belonging to a person of unspecified gender.
3. Its; belonging to it. (Now only when implying personification.)
4. Used as a genitive marker in place of ’s after a noun, especially a masculine noun ending in -s, to express the possessive case.

## Etymology
From Middle English his, from Old English his (“his; its”), from Proto-Germanic *hes (“of this”), genitive of Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this”). Cognate with Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic hans (“his”). More at he; see also its.

## Easily confused with
- **ho** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-ho)
- **HR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hr)
- **HP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hp)
- **hm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hm)
- **HQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hq)
- **Hu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hu)
- **HK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hk)
- **hv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hv)
- **hn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hn)
- **how** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-how)
- **hit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hit)
- **hot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hot)
- **hop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hop)
- **huh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-huh)
- **HIV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hiv)
- **hmm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hmm)
- **hug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hug)
- **hub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hub)
- **hon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hon)
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-hut)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/his