Which to use
“ham” and “hey” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,150
- “ham” frequency rank
- #3,461
- “hey” frequency rank
- 20611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ham | hey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Onomatopée issue de la délectation de boire ou de manger. | Hé. |
Where the eye mixes ham and hey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between ham and hey
A purely visual mix-up. ham (\am\) and hey (\heɪ\) 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 20611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ham is recorded at frequency rank #17,150, classified as anintj, pronounced \am\. hey is at rank #3,461, tagged as anintj, pronounced \heɪ\.
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 20611, this pair ranks #367,395 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ham vs hey
Shared letters: h. Private to "ham": am. Private to "hey": ey.
"ham" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ham" and "hey" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "ham" or "hey" 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 "ham" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #367,395 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ham" and "hey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ham vs Hatem". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #367,395 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.