héliovshelloWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hélio is a noun, hello is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hélio” is a noun and “hello” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,369
“hélio” frequency rank
#13,097
“hello” frequency rank
23466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hélio hello
Definition elemento químico de símbolo He, possui o número atômico 2 e massa atômica relativa de 4,002602 u; é o primeiro elemento da classe dos gases nobres; é o segundo elemento mais abundante do universo; é utilizado em mistura com o oxigênio para mergulhos em grandes profundidades, como agente refrigerante em reatores nucleares e, por ser muito leve, em balões e dirigíveis oi, olá

Where the eye mixes hélio and hello

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
hélio
5 ch
hello

Why the eye confuses hélio with hello

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hélio is /ˈɛ.lju/ while hello is /hɛˈloʊ̯/, /həˈloʊ̯/, SAMPA: /hE"loU/, /h@"loU/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hélio is recorded at frequency rank #10,369, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛ.lju/. hello is at rank #13,097, tagged as anintj, pronounced /hɛˈloʊ̯/, /həˈloʊ̯/, SAMPA: /hE"loU/, /h@"loU/.

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 23466, this pair ranks #46,364 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hélio vs hello

Shared letters: hlo. Private to "hélio": . Private to "hello": e.

"hélio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "hello" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • helloehllo · helo · helol · hhello · hlelo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hélio" for "hello" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hélio" is a noun and "hello" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "hélio" or "hello" show up more?
"hélio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,369 in our Portuguese list, against #13,097 for "hello". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "hélio" and "hello" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hélio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hello" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #46,364 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hélio" and "hello" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hello vs hollow". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #46,364 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list