hacvshacenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#38,732
“hac” frequency rank
#338
“hacen” frequency rank
39070
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hac hacen
Definition Hache. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de hacer o de hacerse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hac and hacen apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
hac
5 ch
hacen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hac is [ˈak] while hacen is [ˈasẽn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “hac” sits inside “hacen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hac is recorded at frequency rank #38,732, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈak]. hacen is at rank #338, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈasẽn].

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 39070, this pair ranks #166,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hac vs hacen

Shared letters: ach. Private to "hac": -. Private to "hacen": en.

"hac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hacen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hacenahcen · haccen · hacenn · hacne · haecn · hasen · hcaen · hhacen

Frequency comparison

hac#38,732
hacen#338

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hac" and "hacen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hac" is a noun and "hacen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hac" or "hacen"?
"hacen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #338 in our Spanish list, against #38,732 for "hac". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering hac vs hacen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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