hacvshadWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“hac” and “had” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,732
“hac” frequency rank
#23,083
“had” frequency rank
61815
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hac had
Definition Hache. Una semilla.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
hac
3 ch
had

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hac ([ˈak]) and had ([ˈhɑːt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - c in “hac” becomes d in “had”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61815, 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]. had is at rank #23,083, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɑːt].

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 61815, this pair ranks #54,160 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hac vs had

Shared letters: ah. Private to "hac": c. Private to "had": d.

"hac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "had" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

hac#38,732
had#23,083

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hac" and "had" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈak] versus [ˈhɑːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hac" or "had"?
"had" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,083 in our Spanish list, against #38,732 for "hac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hac vs had

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list