hac vs hoc, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#38,732
“hac” frequency rank: #22,043
“hoc” frequency rank: 60775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	hac	hoc
Definition	Hache.	Hacia aquí, hacia este lugar, en esta dirección.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

hac

3 ch

hoc

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hac is [ˈak] while hoc is /ˈhoːk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “hac” becomes o in “hoc”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60775, 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]. hoc is at rank #22,043, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈhoːk/.

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 60775, this pair ranks #57,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hac vs hoc

Shared letters: ch. Private to "hac": a. Private to "hoc": o.

"hac" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hoc" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

hac#38,732

hoc#22,043

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hac" and "hoc" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hac" is a noun and "hoc" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "hac" or "hoc"?

"hoc" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,043 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 hoc

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hac”; for an adverb, it's “hoc”.
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