hastvshastyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hast is a verb, hasty is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hast” is a verb and “hasty” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,858
“hast” frequency rank
#19,854
“hasty” frequency rank
43712
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hast hasty
Definition second-person singular simple present indicative of have Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hast and hasty apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hast
5 ch
hasty

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hast is /hæst/ while hasty is /ˈheɪsti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “hast” sits inside “hasty”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43712, 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/. hasty is at rank #19,854, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈheɪsti/.

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 43712, this pair ranks #237,360 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hast vs hasty

Shared letters: ahst. Private to "hast": -. Private to "hasty": y.

"hast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hasty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hastahst · hasst · hastt · hhast · hsat
  • hastyahsty · hassty · hastty · hastyy · hasyt · hatsy · hhasty · hsaty

Frequency comparison

hast#23,858
hasty#19,854

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hast" and "hasty" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hast" is a verb and "hasty" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hast" or "hasty"?
"hasty" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,854 in our English list, against #23,858 for "hast". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hast vs hasty

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “hast”; for an adjective, it's “hasty”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hast” 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