Which to use
“hast” and “hasten” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,858
- “hast” frequency rank
- #31,591
- “hasten” frequency rank
- 55449
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hast | hasten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | second-person singular simple present indicative of have | To move or act in a quick fashion. |
Where the eye mixes hast and hasten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hast runs 4 letters (CVCC) against hasten's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hast with hasten
A purely visual mix-up. hast (/hæst/) and hasten (/ˈheɪ.sn̩/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hast” sits inside “hasten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hast is recorded at frequency rank #23,858, classified as averb, pronounced /hæst/. hasten is at rank #31,591, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈheɪ.sn̩/.
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 55449, this pair ranks #133,554 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hast vs hasten
Shared letters: ahst. Private to "hast": -. Private to "hasten": en.
"hast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hast" for "hasten" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "hast" or "hasten" show up more?
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 "hast" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hasten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,554 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hast" and "hasten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hasta vs hasten". 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 #133,554 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.