Human or Humane?

What Is the Difference between "Human" and "Humane"?

"Human" and "humane" are easy to confuse because of the inconsistency with pronunciation in English.

• A "human" is a person. As an adjective, "human" means having a characteristic of humanity.
• It is a human bone (i.e., a bone from a person).
• "Humane" describes the quality of having compassion.
• It was a humane decision (i.e., a compassionate decision).

When writers are reminded how human and "humane" words are pronounced, the issue is usually resolved.

Human

The noun "human" means a person. As an adjective, it describes a characteristic of mankind (e.g., the human soul, human body, the human mind).

Example sentences with "human":

• I believe that every human feels pleasure in doing good to another. (American statesman Thomas Jefferson)
• To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer. (Biologist Paul R Ehrlich)
(Here, "human" is an adjective.)

The plural of "human" is "humans." It is not "humen." The word "Humen" (note the capital H) is a proper noun. It is the name of a Chinese coastal town on the South China Sea.

Humane

The adjective "humane" describes the quality of having or showing compassion.

Example sentences with "humane"

• This inhuman world has to become more humane. (Author Friedrich Durrenmatt)
• In my view, there is no such thing as humane meat. (Animal welfarist Ingrid Newkirk)

Common Terms with "Human" and "Humane"

Terms with "human":

• human anatomy
• human biology
• human development
• human factors
• human genome
• human rights
• human resources
• human sciences
• to be human
(The term "to be human" carries the connotation of being imperfect, e.g., "I am only human.")

Terms with "humane":

• humane treatment
• humane method
• humane euthanasia
• humane killing
• humane trap

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