Which to use
“hear” is a verb and “hem” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,333
- “hear” frequency rank
- #35,982
- “hem” frequency rank
- 75315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hear | hem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Entendre. | Dont on se sert pour attirer l’attention, pour appeler. |
Where the eye mixes hear and hem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hear with hem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hear is \ˈhɪɹ\ while hem is ^((h aspiré))\ɛm\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hear is recorded at frequency rank #39,333, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈhɪɹ\. hem is at rank #35,982, tagged as anintj, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɛm\.
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 75315, this pair ranks #34,442 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hear vs hem
Shared letters: eh. Private to "hear": ar. Private to "hem": m.
"hear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hear ← ehar · hearr · hera · hhear
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hear" and "hem" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hear" or "hem"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hear" and "hem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,442 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hear" and "hem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hear". 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 #34,442 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.