hatevshitsTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#23,441
“hate” frequency rank
#21,355
“hits” frequency rank
44796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hate hits
Definition Odiar, detestar. Forma del plural de hit.

Where the eye mixes hate and hits

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
hate
4 ch
hits

Why the eye confuses hate with hits

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hate is /heɪt/ while hits is [ˈit̪s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hate is recorded at frequency rank #23,441, classified as averb, pronounced /heɪt/. hits is at rank #21,355, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈit̪s].

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 44796, this pair ranks #135,081 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hate vs hits

Shared letters: ht. Private to "hate": ae. Private to "hits": is.

"hate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hits" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hateahte · haet · hatte · hhate · htae
  • hitshhits · hist · hitss · hitts · ihts

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hate" and "hits" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hate" is a verb and "hits" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "hate" or "hits" show up more?
"hits" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,355 in our Spanish list, against #23,441 for "hate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #135,081 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hate" and "hits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hahn vs hate". 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 #135,081 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