Which to use
“hae” and “hen” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,121
- “hae” frequency rank
- #46,208
- “hen” frequency rank
- 95329
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hae | hen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kava. | Poule. |
Where the eye mixes hae and hen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hae (CVV) and hen (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: hae vs hen
A purely visual mix-up. hae (\hae\) and hen (\ˈhɛn\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hae is recorded at frequency rank #49,121, classified as anoun, pronounced \hae\. hen is at rank #46,208, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈhɛn\.
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 95329, this pair ranks #1,132 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hae vs hen
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hae": a. Private to "hen": n.
"hae" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "hen" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hae" for "hen" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "hae" or "hen" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,132 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hae" and "hen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs Hatem". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,132 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.