hingvshingeConfusable pair

Quick tell: hing is a verb, hinge is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hing” is a verb and “hinge” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,801
“hing” frequency rank
#19,106
“hinge” frequency rank
67907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hing hinge
Definition alternative form of hang. A jointed or flexible device that allows the pivoting of a door etc.

Where the eye mixes hing and hinge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
hing
5 ch
hinge

Why the eye confuses hing with hinge

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hing is /hɪŋ/ while hinge is /ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “hing” sits inside “hinge”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hing is recorded at frequency rank #48,801, classified as averb, pronounced /hɪŋ/. hinge is at rank #19,106, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/.

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 67907, this pair ranks #61,273 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hing vs hinge

Shared letters: ghin. Private to "hing": -. Private to "hinge": e.

"hing" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hinge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinghhing · hign · hingg · hinng · hnig · ihng
  • hingehhinge · higne · hineg · hingge · hinnge · hnige · ihnge

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hing" and "hinge" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hing" is a verb and "hinge" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hing" or "hinge"?
"hinge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,106 in our English list, against #48,801 for "hing". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hinge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,273 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hing" and "hinge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "HIIT 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

Confusion rank #61,273 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list