Which to use
“hen” and “hic” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,208
- “hen” frequency rank
- #16,382
- “hic” frequency rank
- 62590
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hen | hic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poule. | Nœud ou principale difficulté d’une affaire, problème. |
Where the eye mixes hen and hic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between hen and hic
A purely visual mix-up. hen (\ˈhɛn\) and hic (^((h aspiré))\ik\) 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 62590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hen is recorded at frequency rank #46,208, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈhɛn\. hic is at rank #16,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ik\.
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 62590, this pair ranks #86,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hen vs hic
Shared letters: h. Private to "hen": en. Private to "hic": ci.
"hen" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hen" for "hic" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hen" or "hic"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hen" and "hic" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hen" and "hic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #86,311 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.