Spelling Here Vs Hear: Know the Difference

Understanding homophones entails knowing the rules of the language. And there are a lot of them. For instance, in English, the difference between words like “hear” and “here” is one of the most frequently confused pairs of words. 

What Are Homophones?

A homophone is a word with the same pronunciation but with a different spelling and a distinct meaning. 

As a result, it is unlikely that you will find homophones confusing until you are forced to do so by writing them out. A statement can become extremely perplexing when homophones are mixed up.

How Do You Spell Here?

Here is one of the easiest words to spell in English language. Here is spelled as h-e-r-e. It is pronounced as /hɪə/

Though it is easy to spell, you may be confused as a non-native English speaker as to when to use it in writing. Hence, the reason for this article.

What Is the Meaning of Here?

Here implies “in, at, or to this location.” Simply speaking, “Here” refers to the current location. It is an adverb which adds additional information to a verb or adjective. It can also talk about something you’re giving to someone.

Check out these examples:

• Here is your breakfast
• When mama comes here, tell her I am in my room
• She plans to be back here by 6:00 pm.

Here can also function as an adjective, describing a noun or pronoun.

For example: 

• The issue here is that your hair and nails don’t grow

What Exactly Is Hear?

The term hear has a whole different meaning. The verb hear is to listen to a sound. It can also refer to receiving a message or data. Heard is the past tense of the verb hear.

Listening and perceiving sound is what hearing entails. It is a verb, which denotes that it depicts an activity.

When discussing things that are being heard, have been heard, or will be heard, the word ‘hear’ is employed. Here are various ways to utilize the word “hear” in a sentence:

To help make this clearer, here are some examples below:

• I love to hear the wind blowing softly.
• I loved hearing the holiday bells.
• Have you heard what he did?

Here is an example you don’t want to ever use:

(Wrong) “Come hear so that you can here me”.

Was there anything out of the ordinary about that? You can make out the words “hear” and “here.” Homophone confusion is evident in this statement when read aloud but not when written down.

TIP for USING HEAR or HERE

A helpful hint for remembering the distinction between these homophones is to consider that you hear with your ear. As hear contains ear, this should help you remember.

Occasionally, the English language can be pretty difficult. Examine the definitions and examples once more if you become confused. 

Here, Here Vs. Hear, Hear

Legislative debates are one of the British Parliament’s most lasting formalities. Some view the public business of the Houses as a form of high entertainment. It is conducted in a regal manner and incorporates a variety of traditions.

The conversation is lively. Issues can be decided by voice vote in the House. What word do people use when they shout that they agree? The response is, hear, hear! 

The British Parliament came up with the phrase. It is a shortened version of “hear him, hear him.” This was yelled when people agreed with a presenter to tell others to pay attention to what he had to say.

If you have to choose between “hear hear” and “here here,” you can probably guess that “here here” is just a misspelled word. People probably didn’t know which spelling was correct because they heard the phrase more often than read it. 

Since here and hear sound the same, their difference became less clear over time. Even though it’s wrong, here here is still used in the English language. And hear hear is now in print.

It is sometimes used in newspapers and magazines as it is on the floor of the British Parliament. However, in print, people in the United States tend to use it more to express happiness than as a request to listen.

To Wrap Up

Learning homophones is critical in your literary and spoken language learning. Knowledge of homophones helps to increase retention and comprehension as you read.