Which to use
“had” is a verb and “hae” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,767
- “had” frequency rank
- #49,121
- “hae” frequency rank
- 67888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | had | hae |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prétérit de have (« avoir »). | Kava. |
Where the eye mixes had and hae
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses had with hae
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: had is \hæd\ while hae is \hae\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “had” becomes e in “hae”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
had is recorded at frequency rank #18,767, classified as averb, pronounced \hæd\. hae is at rank #49,121, tagged as anoun, pronounced \hae\.
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 67888, this pair ranks #61,521 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of had vs hae
Shared letters: ah. Private to "had": d. Private to "hae": e.
"had" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hae" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "had" for "hae" ever safe?
Frequency check: "had" vs "hae" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "had" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hae" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,521 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "had" and "hae" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs Hatem". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #61,521 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.