Which to use
“Hu” is a name and “hung” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,362
- “Hu” frequency rank
- #5,052
- “hung” frequency rank
- 18414
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hu | hung |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A common surname from Chinese of east Asian derivation. | simple past and past participle of hang (except when referring to the method of execution; there, hanged is used instead) |
Where the eye mixes Hu and hung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Hu and hung
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hu is /hu/ while hung is /ˈhʌŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Hu” sits inside “hung”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hu is recorded at frequency rank #13,362, classified as aname, pronounced /hu/. hung is at rank #5,052, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhʌŋ/.
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 18414, this pair ranks #445,045 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hu vs hung
Shared letters: hu. Private to "Hu": -. Private to "hung": gn.
"Hu" · 2 letters · shape CV · "hung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hung ← hhung · hnug · hugn · hungg · hunng · uhng
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hu" for "hung" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Hu" vs "hung" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Hu" and "hung" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #445,045 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hu" and "hung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "HRW vs Hu". 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 #445,045 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.