hãovsheWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hão is a verb, he is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hão” is a verb and “he” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,033
“hão” frequency rank
#7,293
“he” frequency rank
31326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hão he
Definition terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo haver caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do plural, eles, elas

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
hão
2 ch
he

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hão is averb and heapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hão is recorded at frequency rank #24,033, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɐ̃w̃/ [ˈɐ̃ʊ̯̃]. he is at rank #7,293, 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 31326, this pair ranks #36,805 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hão vs he

Shared letters: h. Private to "hão": . Private to "he": e.

"hão" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "he" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

hão#24,033
he#7,293

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hão" and "he" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hão" is a verb and "he" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hão" or "he"?
"he" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,293 in our Portuguese list, against #24,033 for "hão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hão vs he

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “hão”; for a pronoun, it's “he”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hão” 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