Hop or hope?
hop is a noun meaning “A short jump”; hope is a verb meaning “To want (something) to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might [with…”. Use hop as a noun and hope as a verb (hope is also a noun: “The feeling of trust, confidence, belief or expectation…”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) hope is about 11 times as common as hop.
What is the difference between hop and hope?
| hop | hope | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | verb, noun |
| Meaning | A short jump A jump on one leg To jump a short distance | To want (something) to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might [with that (+ clause); or (informal) with clause; or with so or (negative) not] To intend to do something and look forward to the prospect of having done it [with to (+ infinitive)] The feeling of trust, confidence, belief or expectation that something wished for can or will happen |
| Example | The frog crossed the brook in three or four hops | They are hoping it does not rain, but I expect it will |
| Forms | hops | hopes, hoping, hoped |
| Pronunciation | /hɒp/ /hɑp/ /hɔp/ | /ˈhəʊp/ /ˈhoʊp/ /ˈhəʉp/ |
| In writing | 25 times per million words | 275 times per million words |
Sources: hop and hope in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of hop and hope
hop
- 1
A short jump
The frog crossed the brook in three or four hops
- 2
To jump a short distance
- 3
A plant of species Humulus lupulus, native to northern Europe, female flowers of which are used to flavour many types of beer during brewing
- 4
To impregnate with hops, especially to add hops as a flavouring agent during the production of beer
- 5
Synonym of half-op
- 6
AustraliaslangEllipsis of John Hop (“a police officer”)
- 7
A jump on one leg
- 8
To jump on one foot
hope
- 1
To want (something) to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might [with that (+ clause); or (informal) with clause; or with so or (negative) not]
They are hoping it does not rain, but I expect it will
- 2
The feeling of trust, confidence, belief or expectation that something wished for can or will happen
All hopes for a truce are gone after the latest attack
- 3
ScotlandA hollow; a valley, especially the upper end of a narrow mountain valley when it is nearly encircled by smooth, green slopes; a combe
- 4
A sloping plain between mountain ridges
- 5
To intend to do something and look forward to the prospect of having done it [with to (+ infinitive)]
I hope to succeed
- 6
The actual thing wished for
- 7
ScotlandA small bay; an inlet; a haven
- 8
To expect optimistically that one might get something (either a change in circumstance or an object) [with for]
They're hoping for the best, but I don't think it's looking very good
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, hop or hope?
hop appears 25 times per million words; hope 275 times per million words.
hop 25 times per million wordshope 275 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search hop vs hope?
“hop vs hope” is searched about 10 times a month on Bing (Google reports it together with close variants, so it has no figure of its own) in the United States.
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.