h vs hem, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,433
“h” frequency rank: #27,124
“hem” frequency rank: 28557
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	h	hem
Definition	símbolo de hora:	expressa incompreensão, não entendimento, simultaneamente comunicando àquele ao qual se dirige, que elucide o sentido, o nexo, que dê clareza ou que melhor se fale ou expresse o que se acabou de comunicar

Letter map: h vs hem

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

1 ch

3 ch

hem

Role in the sentence - h and hem

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: h is asymbol and hemanintj. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “h” sits inside “hem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

h is recorded at frequency rank #1,433, classified as asymbol. hem is at rank #27,124, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ẽɲ/.

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 28557, this pair ranks #40,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of h vs hem

Shared letters: h. Private to "h": -. Private to "hem": em.

"h" · 1 letters · shape C · "hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "h" for "hem" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "h" is a symbol and "hem" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "h" or "hem"?

"h" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,433 in our Portuguese list, against #27,124 for "hem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

Full dictionary entry for "h" 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 #40,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"h" and "hem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hem vs hui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #40,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.