hemvshrTell them apart

Quick tell: hem is a intj, hr is an onomatopoeia, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hem” is an intj and “hr” is an onomatopoeia - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,982
“hem” frequency rank
#25,352
“hr” frequency rank
61334
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hem hr
Definition Dont on se sert pour attirer l’attention, pour appeler. Variante de hrr.

Letter map: hem vs hr

Shared letters muted; letters that set hem and hr apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
hem
2 ch
hr

Grammar separator: hem vs hr

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hem is anintj and hranonomatopoeia. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61334, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hem is recorded at frequency rank #35,982, classified as anintj, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɛm\. hr is at rank #25,352, tagged as anonomatopoeia.

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 61334, this pair ranks #92,822 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hem vs hr

Shared letters: h. Private to "hem": em. Private to "hr": r.

"hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hr" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hem" for "hr" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hem" is an intj and "hr" an onomatopoeia, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "hem" vs "hr" - which ranks higher?
"hr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,352 in our French list, against #35,982 for "hem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "hem" vs "hr" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #92,822 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hem" and "hr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hatem vs hem". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #92,822 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