haevsHeuConfusable pair

Which to use

“hae” and “Heu” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,121
“hae” frequency rank
#6,511
“Heu” frequency rank
55632
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hae Heu
Definition Kava. Foin.

Where the eye mixes hae and Heu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
hae
3 ch
Heu

Why the eye confuses hae with Heu

A purely visual mix-up. hae (\hae\) and Heu (\hɔɪ̯\) 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 55632, 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\. Heu is at rank #6,511, tagged as anoun, pronounced \hɔɪ̯\.

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 55632, this pair ranks #126,216 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hae vs Heu

Shared letters: eh. Private to "hae": a. Private to "Heu": u.

"hae" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "Heu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hae" and "Heu" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\hae\ versus \hɔɪ̯\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hae" vs "Heu" - which ranks higher?
"Heu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,511 in our French list, against #49,121 for "hae". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Heu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #126,216 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hae" and "Heu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs Hatem". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #126,216 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list