hier vs hin, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“hier” is an adverb and “hin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#507
“hier” frequency rank: #35,985
“hin” frequency rank: 36492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	hier	hin
Definition	Le jour qui précède immédiatement celui où l’on est. Il y a un jour.	Ancienne mesure égyptienne de capacité pour les liquides.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hier and hin apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

hier

3 ch

hin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hier is anadverb and hinanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hier is recorded at frequency rank #507, classified as anadv, pronounced \jɛʁ\. hin is at rank #35,985, tagged as anoun.

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 36492, this pair ranks #269,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hier vs hin

Shared letters: hi. Private to "hier": er. Private to "hin": n.

"hier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "hin" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

hier ← heir · hhier · hierr · hire · iher

Frequency comparison

hier#507

hin#35,985

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hier" and "hin" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hier" is an adverb and "hin" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "hier" or "hin"?

"hier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #507 in our French list, against #35,985 for "hin". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering hier vs hin

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “hier”; for a noun, it's “hin”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hier” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable