hvshisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: h is a symbol, his is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#1,433
“h” frequency rank
#8,209
“his” frequency rank
9642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature h his
Definition símbolo de hora: pronome do caso possessivo da terceira pessoa masculina do singular, dele.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set h and his apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

1 ch
h
3 ch
his

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

h and his form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “h” sits inside “his” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

h is recorded at frequency rank #1,433, classified as asymbol. his is at rank #8,209, tagged as apron.

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 9642, this pair ranks #63,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

h#1,433
his#8,209

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "h" and "his" be used interchangeably?
No, "h" and "his" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering h vs his

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list