hauvshomWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hau is a verb, hom is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hau” is a verb and “hom” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,064
“hau” frequency rank
#43,252
“hom” frequency rank
50316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hau hom
Definition 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs hauen die Leute, irgendwelche Leute

Letter map: hau vs hom

Shared letters muted; letters that set hau and hom apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
hau
3 ch
hom

Grammar separator: hau vs hom

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hau is averb and homapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hau is recorded at frequency rank #7,064, classified as averb, pronounced [haʊ̯]. hom is at rank #43,252, tagged as apron, pronounced […].

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 50316, this pair ranks #1,178,314 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hau vs hom

Shared letters: h. Private to "hau": au. Private to "hom": mo.

"hau" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "hom" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hau" for "hom" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hau" is a verb and "hom" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "hau" vs "hom" - which ranks higher?
"hau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,064 in our German list, against #43,252 for "hom". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "hau" and "hom". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,178,314 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hau" and "hom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hom vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,178,314 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list