Which to use
“hams” is a noun and “han” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,094
- “hams” frequency rank
- #7,925
- “han” frequency rank
- 42019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hams | han |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ham | plural simple present of have |
Letter map: hams vs han
Shared letters muted; letters that set hams and han apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - hams and han
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hams is anoun and hanaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hams is recorded at frequency rank #34,094, classified as anoun. han is at rank #7,925, tagged as averb, pronounced /hæn/.
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 42019, this pair ranks #253,031 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hams vs han
Shared letters: ah. Private to "hams": ms. Private to "han": n.
"hams" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "han" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hams ← ahms · hamms · hamss · hasm · hhams
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hams" for "han" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hams" or "han"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hams" and "han".
- Full dictionary entry for "hams" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "han" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #253,031 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hams" and "han" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hammy vs hams". 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 #253,031 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.