hein

/\ɛ̃\/ intj

Letters

4 characters

Frequency Rank

#687

in French word usage

Misspellings

5

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

hein is anFrenchintj. It means: Dont on accompagne une interrogation ou une phrase qui exprime l’étonnement. Pronounced \ɛ̃\. It ranks #687 in French word frequency. Often confused with hi and hey.

Key facts for hein
PropertyValue
Headwordhein
LanguageFrench
Part of speechIntj
IPA\ɛ̃\
Letters4
Frequency rank#687
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of hein in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for hein is 4 letters long, classified as anintj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɛ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #687 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for hein, with forms such as "ehin", "heinn", and "heni". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hi", "hey", "Heu", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is hein, spelled H-E-I-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dont on accompagne une interrogation ou une phrase qui exprime l’étonnement.
  2. 2
    Il s’emploie seul, pour indiquer que l’on n’a pas entendu ou compris et que l’on invite l’interlocuteur à répéter.
  3. 3
    S’emploie pour attirer l’attention, susciter l’approbation ou bien des questions.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ehin,heinn,heni,hhein,hien

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for hein

Misspelling Variants of "hein"

ehin4heinn5heni4hhein5hien4
Misspelling Variants of "hein"

Frequency rank: #687 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hein"?
"hein" is spelled H-E-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛ̃\.
What does "hein" mean?
As an intj, "hein" means: Dont on accompagne une interrogation ou une phrase qui exprime l’étonnement.
What words are commonly confused with "hein"?
"hein" is commonly confused with "hi", "hey", "Heu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hein"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hein" is \ɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hein" come from?
"hein" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter H in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.