Which to use
“há” is a verb and “hem” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #88
- “há” frequency rank
- #27,124
- “hem” frequency rank
- 27212
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | há | hem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo haver | 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: há vs hem
Shared letters muted; letters that set há and hem apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Grammar separator: há vs hem
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: há is averb and hemanintj. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
há is recorded at frequency rank #88, classified as averb. 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 27212, this pair ranks #41,800 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of há vs hem
Shared letters: h. Private to "há": á. Private to "hem": em.
"há" · 2 letters · shape CV · "hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "há" for "hem" ever safe?
Which is more common, "há" or "hem"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "há" and "hem".
- Full dictionary entry for "há" 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 #41,800 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "há" and "hem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hem vs hui". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #41,800 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.