Rules for the use of the H

When writing, many doubts arise, especially with some letters such as g and j or H. On many occasions, people do not know if a word is written with one or another or if it has h or not. It is a very frequent question, which affects when writing, not speaking. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to show you what are the rules for using H. With these simple rules you can quickly learn when to use it and when not to use it.

In Spanish, the letter H is silent, that is, it is not pronounced, it does not have any type of sound, so doubts frequently arise about when to write and when not. In oral language there is no problem, since as we have indicated it is a question of absence of sound, but when we are faced with a written text, many problems and inconveniences can arise. So that you do not doubt again whether a word is written with H or not, we are going to give you a series of very simple rules. We assure you that with them you will never misspell words of this type again.

First of all we are going to point out the words that

are always written with H, although we will also show those that always go without them. It can be a bit overwhelming, especially when you are learning Spanish, but little by little you will quickly recognize it without any problems. Spelling rules will help you spell correctly. Let's go for it:

Words that are written with H

1. The H is always placed in front of the diphthongs ua, ue and ui. In this case you must bear in mind that the position of the diphthong is indifferent, that is, it can appear at the beginning of the word or in the middle of it. Let's see some examples of words of this type:

• Bone
• Hollow out
• Run away
• Huaca
• Egg
• Hey
• Host
• Strike
• Vegetable patch
• Orphan
• Gap
• Pimp
• Peanut
• Atahualpa

2. When a word starts with letters ie or ia, it will always be written with H. The following examples will help you better identify this rule:

• Hyena
• Ice
• Hiatus
• Herb
• Hurts
• Hieratic

3. All those are written with h words that begin with hum and they are followed by a vowel. Some examples to understand it better:

• Humanity
• Smoke
• Smoky
• Humiliate
• Humor
• Human
• Humerus
• Humidity
• Humus

4. Some of the verbs that we use the most in our language are written with H. Remember these examples and memorize them:

• To have
• Speak
• Find
• Satiate
• Make
• Hurt
• Freeze
• Puff up
• Boil
• Run away

5. Some words that begin with former. These are some examples of them:

• To exhibit
• Exhume
• Exhausted
• Exhort
• Exhale

6. Some interjections most common are written with H. This can be placed at the beginning or at the end. We are going to show you some examples:

• Hello
• Huy
• Bah
• Hala
• Hurrah
• Ah
• Hey
• Oh
• Uh

7. The H, in many occasions is a remnant of words of Greek origin, as is the case of those that begin as follows:

• Halo- (Halogen)
• Hect- (Hectometer, hectoliter, hectare)
• Helico- (Helicopter, Helicon, Helical)
• Helium- (Heliocentric, helium)
• Hema- (Hematologist, red blood cells, hematology)
• Hept- (Heptahedron, hectometer)
• Hepat- (Hepatitis, hepatologist)
• Hetero- (Heterogeneous, heterosexual)
• Hexa- (Hexagon, hexahedron)
• Hydro- (Hydrological, hydrometer)
• Hyper- (Hypermarket, hypertext)
• Hypo- (Hippo, hypothyroidism)
• Hol- (Holistic, holocaust)
• Homeo- (Homeopathic, homeopathy)
• Homo- (Homonym, homogeneous, homosexual)

In this other lesson we will discover the use of the intermediate H.

You already know what are the rules for the use of H that you should remember when writing a word with h, but we believe that these two rules will help you complete the above information. In other words, these two rules indicate what words are never written with h. Let's see them:

The words that begin with alv- or alv-. So that you can retain in an easier way:

• Apricot
• Alberto
• Dawn
• Sunrise
• Albero
• Pea
• Alvaro
• Alveoli
• Albino
• To the wine

Finally, they will never wear those words that begin with exo-as long as it refers to outside. These examples will help you to have it much clearer:

• Exorcist
• Exorbitant
• Exotic
• Exodus
• Eccentric
• Excuse
• Exacerbate

We hope that thanks to these premises you have understood the rules of use of H. To write well it is necessary to know the rules of spelling. If you want to know more lessons similar to these in which we show you how to avoid other very common mistakes in writing or language, be sure to visit our sections. In them you will find everything you need to continue learning and improving day by day.