honvshusWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hon is a verb, hus is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hon” is a verb and “hus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,001
“hon” frequency rank
#35,244
“hus” frequency rank
75245
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hon hus
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs honen Haus

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hon and hus apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
hon
3 ch
hus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

hon and hus form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hon is recorded at frequency rank #40,001, classified as averb, pronounced [hoːn]. hus is at rank #35,244, tagged as anoun, pronounced [huːˀs].

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 75245, this pair ranks #312,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Frequency comparison

hon#40,001
hus#35,244

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hon" and "hus" be used interchangeably?
No, "hon" and "hus" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering hon vs hus

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “hon”; for a noun, it's “hus”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hon” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list