Which to use
“hold” is a verb and “Hou” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #655
- “hold” frequency rank
- #25,415
- “Hou” frequency rank
- 26070
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hold | Hou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To grasp or grip. | A surname from Chinese. |
Letter map: hold vs Hou
Shared letters muted; letters that set hold and Hou apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hold is averb and Houaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hold is recorded at frequency rank #655, classified as averb, pronounced /həʊld/. Hou is at rank #25,415, tagged as aname.
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 26070, this pair ranks #389,421 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hold vs Hou
Shared letters: ho. Private to "hold": dl. Private to "Hou": u.
"hold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Hou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- hold ← hhold · hlod · hodl · holdd · holld · ohld