Which to use
“hope” is a verb and “hos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #346
- “hope” frequency rank
- #31,601
- “hos” frequency rank
- 31947
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hope | hos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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]. | plural of ho |
Letter map: hope vs hos
Shared letters muted; letters that set hope and hos apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: hope vs hos
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hope is averb and hosanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hope is recorded at frequency rank #346, classified as averb, pronounced /həʊp/. hos is at rank #31,601, tagged as anoun.
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 31947, this pair ranks #341,866 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hope vs hos
Shared letters: ho. Private to "hope": ep. Private to "hos": s.
"hope" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "hos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hope ← hhope · hoep · hoppe · hpoe · ohpe
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hope" and "hos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "hope" or "hos" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hope" and "hos".
- Full dictionary entry for "hope" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #341,866 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hope" and "hos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoke vs hos". 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 #341,866 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.