Which to use
“ham” is a noun and “hem” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,746
- “ham” frequency rank
- #27,124
- “hem” frequency rank
- 46870
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ham | hem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pernil | 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 |
Where the eye mixes ham and hem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ham with hem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ham is /hæm/ while hem is /ẽɲ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “ham” becomes e in “hem”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ham is recorded at frequency rank #19,746, classified as anoun, pronounced /hæm/. 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 46870, this pair ranks #18,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ham vs hem
Shared letters: hm. Private to "ham": a. Private to "hem": e.
"ham" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ham" for "hem" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ham" or "hem"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ham" 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 #18,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ham" and "hem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ham vs hamza". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #18,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.