hábilvshairWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hábil is a adjective, hair is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hábil” is an adjective and “hair” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,594
“hábil” frequency rank
#36,078
“hair” frequency rank
47672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hábil hair
Definition Que puede hacer muy bien algo. Pelo, cabello, vello.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hábil and hair apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hábil
4 ch
hair

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hábil is [ˈaβ̞il] while hair is /hɛə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hábil is recorded at frequency rank #11,594, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaβ̞il]. hair is at rank #36,078, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hɛə/.

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 47672, this pair ranks #118,724 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hábil vs hair

Shared letters: hi. Private to "hábil": blá. Private to "hair": ar.

"hábil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "hair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hairahir · hairr · hhair · hiar

Frequency comparison

hábil#11,594
hair#36,078

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hábil" and "hair" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hábil" is an adjective and "hair" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hábil" or "hair"?
"hábil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,594 in our Spanish list, against #36,078 for "hair". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hábil vs hair

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “hábil”; for a noun, it's “hair”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hábil” 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