Which to use
“head” is an adjective and “help” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,215
- “head” frequency rank
- #15,156
- “help” frequency rank
- 33371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | head | help |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Relatif à la tête. | À l’aide. |
Where the eye mixes head and help
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: head vs help
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: head is \hɛd\ while help is \hɛlp\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
head is recorded at frequency rank #18,215, classified as anadj, pronounced \hɛd\. help is at rank #15,156, tagged as anintj, pronounced \hɛlp\.
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 33371, this pair ranks #291,077 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of head vs help
Shared letters: eh. Private to "head": ad. Private to "help": lp.
"head" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "help" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "head" for "help" ever safe?
Frequency check: "head" vs "help" - 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 "head" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "help" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,077 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "head" and "help" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs head". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #291,077 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.