hagovshaoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hago is a verb, hao is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hago” is a verb and “hao” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#767
“hago” frequency rank
#40,863
“hao” frequency rank
41630
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hago hao
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de hacer o de hacerse. Se usaba para llamar a uno que estuviese distante.

Where the eye mixes hago and hao

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hago runs 4 letters (CVCV) against hao's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
hago
3 ch
hao

Why the eye confuses hago with hao

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hago is [ˈaɣ̞o] while hao is [ˈao]. 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 (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hago is recorded at frequency rank #767, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɣ̞o]. hao is at rank #40,863, tagged as anintj, pronounced [ˈao].

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 41630, this pair ranks #152,608 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hago vs hao

Shared letters: aho. Private to "hago": g. Private to "hao": -.

"hago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hao" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hago ← ahgo · haggo · haog · hgao · hhago

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hago" for "hao" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hago" is a verb and "hao" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hago" or "hao"?
"hago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #767 in our Spanish list, against #40,863 for "hao". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "hago" and "hao" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hao" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,608 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hago" and "hao" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hahn vs hao". 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 #152,608 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list