Which to use
“hen” and “hyène” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,208
- “hen” frequency rank
- #38,350
- “hyène” frequency rank
- 84558
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hen | hyène |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poule. | Mammifère carnassier digitigrade d’Asie et d’Afrique au pelage gris tacheté de brun. Précédée de de ou de la, l’élision est facultative, on peut donc aussi bien dire la hyène ou de hyène, que l’hyène ou d’hyène. |
Where the eye mixes hen and hyène
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hen and hyène
A purely visual mix-up. hen (\ˈhɛn\) and hyène (^((h aspiré))\jɛn\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84558, 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\. hyène is at rank #38,350, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\jɛn\.
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 84558, this pair ranks #12,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hen vs hyène
Shared letters: ehn. Private to "hen": -. Private to "hyène": yè.
"hen" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hyène" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hen" for "hyène" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hen" vs "hyène" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hyène" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hen" and "hyène" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #12,772 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.