Which to use
“Hu” is a name and “hurt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,362
- “Hu” frequency rank
- #1,224
- “hurt” frequency rank
- 14586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hu | hurt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A common surname from Chinese of east Asian derivation. | To cause (a person or animal) physical pain and/or injury. |
Where the eye mixes Hu and hurt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Hu with hurt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hu is /hu/ while hurt is /hɜːt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Hu” sits inside “hurt”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14586, 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/. hurt is at rank #1,224, tagged as averb, pronounced /hɜːt/.
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 14586, this pair ranks #469,134 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hu vs hurt
Shared letters: hu. Private to "Hu": -. Private to "hurt": rt.
"Hu" · 2 letters · shape CV · "hurt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hurt ← hhurt · hrut · hurrt · hurtt · hutr · uhrt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hu" for "hurt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Hu" or "hurt"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hurt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #469,134 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hu" and "hurt" 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 #469,134 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.