Which to use
“halted” is a verb and “hates” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,553
- “halted” frequency rank
- #5,601
- “hates” frequency rank
- 20154
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | halted | hates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of halt | plural of hate |
Where the eye mixes halted and hates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between halted and hates
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: halted is /ˈhɔːltɪd/ while hates is /heɪts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20154, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
halted is recorded at frequency rank #14,553, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhɔːltɪd/. hates is at rank #5,601, tagged as anoun, pronounced /heɪts/.
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 20154, this pair ranks #433,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of halted vs hates
Shared letters: aeht. Private to "halted": dl. Private to "hates": s.
"halted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "halted" and "hates" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "halted" or "hates"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "halted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "halted" and "hates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "halted vs halve". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #433,135 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.