hoursvsHoyosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hours is a noun, Hoyos is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hours” is a noun and “Hoyos” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,614
“hours” frequency rank
#14,861
“Hoyos” frequency rank
49475
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hours Hoyos
Definition Forma del plural de hour. Apellido.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hours and Hoyos apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hours
5 ch
Hoyos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hours is /ˈaʊəz/ while Hoyos is [ˈoʝos]. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hours is recorded at frequency rank #34,614, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊəz/. Hoyos is at rank #14,861, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈoʝos].

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 49475, this pair ranks #108,662 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hours vs Hoyos

Shared letters: hos. Private to "hours": ru. Private to "Hoyos": y.

"hours" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "Hoyos" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hourshhours · horus · hourrs · hourss · housr · huors · ohurs
  • Hoyoshhoyos · hooys · hoyoss · hoyso · hoyyos · hyoos · ohyos

Frequency comparison

hours#34,614
Hoyos#14,861

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hours" and "Hoyos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hours" is a noun and "Hoyos" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hours" or "Hoyos"?
"Hoyos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,861 in our Spanish list, against #34,614 for "hours". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hours vs Hoyos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hours”; for a name, it's “Hoyos”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hours” 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