hangvshasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“hang” and “has” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,487
“hang” frequency rank
#47
“has” frequency rank
2534
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hang has
Definition To be or remain suspended. third-person singular simple present indicative of have

Where the eye mixes hang and has

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
hang
3 ch
has

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hang (/ˈhæŋ/) and has (/hæz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hang is recorded at frequency rank #2,487, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhæŋ/. has is at rank #47, tagged as averb, pronounced /hæz/.

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 2534, this pair ranks #524,713 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hang vs has

Shared letters: ah. Private to "hang": gn. Private to "has": s.

"hang" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "has" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hangahng · hagn · hangg · hanng · hhang · hnag

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hang" and "has" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈhæŋ/ versus /hæz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hang" or "has"?
"has" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #47 in our English list, against #2,487 for "hang". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "hang" and "has". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hang" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "has" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #524,713 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hang" and "has" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hang vs hing". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list