hostingvshuntingWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,503
“hosting” frequency rank
#3,500
“hunting” frequency rank
9003
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hosting hunting
Definition present participle and gerund of host The act of finding and killing a wild animal, either for sport or with the intention of using its parts to make food, clothes, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hosting and hunting apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
hosting
7 ch
hunting

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hosting is /ˈhoʊstɪŋ/ while hunting is /ˈhʌntɪŋ/. 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 9003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hosting is recorded at frequency rank #5,503, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhoʊstɪŋ/. hunting is at rank #3,500, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhʌntɪŋ/.

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 9003, this pair ranks #499,574 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hosting vs hunting

Shared letters: ghint. Private to "hosting": os. Private to "hunting": u.

"hosting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "hunting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hostinghhosting · hositng · hossting · hostign · hostingg · hostinng · hostnig · hostting
  • huntinghhunting · hnuting · hunitng · hunnting · huntign · huntingg · huntinng · huntnig

Frequency comparison

hosting#5,503
hunting#3,500

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hosting" and "hunting" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hosting" is a verb and "hunting" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hosting" or "hunting"?
"hunting" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,500 in our English list, against #5,503 for "hosting". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hosting vs hunting

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “hosting”; for a noun, it's “hunting”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hosting” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list