What is the difference between "her" and "here"?

The words her and here are often confused because they look similar. In this article, we explain the difference between them.

Her means "the form of she used after a preposition or as the object of a verb" when used as a pronoun.

Here means "in, on, or at this place" when used as an adverb.

A good way to remember the difference is the phrase bring her here.

Her and here are often mistyped because they only have one letter different. However, these words have two very different meanings. Let's take a closer look.

Her always refers to a person who identifies as female. It is a singular pronoun that functions as both an object pronoun (e.g. give the ball to her) and a possessive adjective (e.g. her ball).

Examples of "her":

• It was her first day and she was nervous.
• If you see her, will you ask her to call me?
• I really should invite her to dinner.

Here is a location. It means that something is in or at a specific place or position. Here is used to refer to a location that the speaker is currently in or near. It can also be used to refer to the present time (e.g. here is your chance) or to introduce a noun (e.g. here is my letter). Some synonyms of here are: present, hither, available, attendant.

Examples of "here":

• Let's do our own shopping and meet back here later.
• There's nowhere I'd rather be than here.
• Can I get some service here?

Which is right, "shook her head" or "shook here head"?

You should use "shook her head" – e.g. She shook her head sadly at him.

What's the right phrase, "his or her own" or "his or here own"?

The correct phrase is "his or her own" – e.g. Each child must take responsibility for his or her own packed lunch on the school trip.

What's the correct phrase, "here and there" or "her and there"?

The right expression is "here and there" – e.g. You will find the occasional tree here and there, but it looks bare compared with the forest.

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The definitions in this article were adapted from Wiktionary.