Which to use
“há” is a verb and “his” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #88
- “há” frequency rank
- #8,209
- “his” frequency rank
- 8297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | há | his |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo haver | pronome do caso possessivo da terceira pessoa masculina do singular, dele. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set há and his apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
há 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 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
há is recorded at frequency rank #88, classified as averb. 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 8297, this pair ranks #65,521 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "há" and "his" be used interchangeably?
Remembering há vs his
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “há”; for a pronoun, it's “his”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “há” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable