hvshisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: h is a character, his is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“h” is a character and “his” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#991
“h” frequency rank
#13,485
“his” frequency rank
14476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature h his
Definition Octava letra del alfabeto español y sexta consonante. Su nombre es hache. (de él) Su , sus, suyo, suya, suyos, suyas.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set h and his apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

1 ch
h
3 ch
his

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

h and his form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “h” sits inside “his” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

h is recorded at frequency rank #991, classified as acharacter, pronounced [ˈat͡ʃe]. his is at rank #13,485, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈhɪz/.

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 14476, this pair ranks #283,973 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

h#991
his#13,485

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "h" and "his" be used interchangeably?
No, "h" and "his" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering h vs his

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a character, it's “h”; for a pronoun, it's “his”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “h” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list