hingvshunkWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#48,801
“hing” frequency rank
#24,788
“hunk” frequency rank
73589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hing hunk
Definition alternative form of hang. A large or dense piece of something.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hing and hunk apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hing
4 ch
hunk

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hing is /hɪŋ/ while hunk is /hʌŋk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73589, 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/. hunk is at rank #24,788, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hʌŋk/.

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 73589, this pair ranks #39,116 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hing vs hunk

Shared letters: hn. Private to "hing": gi. Private to "hunk": ku.

"hing" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hunk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinghhing · hign · hingg · hinng · hnig · ihng
  • hunkhhunk · hnuk · hukn · hunkk · hunnk · uhnk

Frequency comparison

hing#48,801
hunk#24,788

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hing" and "hunk" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hing" is a verb and "hunk" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hing" or "hunk"?
"hunk" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,788 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.

Remembering hing vs hunk

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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