haovshearConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#40,863
“hao” frequency rank
#41,395
“hear” frequency rank
82258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hao hear
Definition Se usaba para llamar a uno que estuviese distante. Oír.

Where the eye mixes hao and hear

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hao runs 3 letters (CVV) against hear's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
hao
4 ch
hear

Look-alike desk: hao vs hear

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hao is [ˈao] while hear is /hɪə(ɹ)/. 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 (intj vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hao is recorded at frequency rank #40,863, classified as anintj, pronounced [ˈao]. hear is at rank #41,395, tagged as averb, pronounced /hɪə(ɹ)/.

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 82258, this pair ranks #9,428 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hao vs hear

Shared letters: ah. Private to "hao": o. Private to "hear": er.

"hao" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "hear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hear ← ehar · hearr · hhear

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hao" and "hear" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hao" is an intj and "hear" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "hao" or "hear" show up more?
"hao" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,863 in our Spanish list, against #41,395 for "hear". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hao" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,428 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hao" and "hear" 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 #9,428 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