Which to use
“he” is an adverb and “he's” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #139
- “he” frequency rank
- #43,629
- “he's” frequency rank
- 43768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | he | he's |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unido a un pronombre personal clítico ("me, te, le, nos, os, les") o a un adverbio de lugar ("aquí, allí, ahí", etc.), señala la presencia o existencia de algo. | Contracción de he y is: "él es" o "él está". |
Where the eye mixes he and he's
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: he vs he's
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: he is [ˈe] while he's is /hiːz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “he” sits inside “he's”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
he is recorded at frequency rank #139, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈe]. he's is at rank #43,629, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /hiːz/.
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 43768, this pair ranks #140,823 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of he vs he's
Shared letters: eh. Private to "he": -. Private to "he's": s.
"he" · 2 letters · shape CV · "he's" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "he" and "he's" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "he" or "he's"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "he" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "he's" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #140,823 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "he" and "he's" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "he's vs herr". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #140,823 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.