Which to use
“hay” is a verb and “his” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42
- “hay” frequency rank
- #13,485
- “his” frequency rank
- 13527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hay | his |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de haber. | (de él) Su , sus, suyo, suya, suyos, suyas. |
Where the eye mixes hay and his
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between hay and his
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hay is [ˈaj] while his is /ˈhɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hay is recorded at frequency rank #42, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaj]. 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 13527, this pair ranks #287,533 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hay vs his
Shared letters: h. Private to "hay": ay. Private to "his": is.
"hay" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "his" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hay" and "his" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "hay" vs "his" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hay" and "his" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hay" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "his" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #287,533 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hay" and "his" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "he's vs his". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #287,533 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.