Which to use
“eat” is a verb and “hits” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,139
- “eat” frequency rank
- #19,855
- “hits” frequency rank
- 49994
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eat | hits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manger. | Pluriel de hit. |
Same sound, different letters: eat vs hits
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 1 letter. eat runs 3 letters (VVC) against hits's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - eat and hits
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: eat and hits carry the same recorded pronunciation, \iːt\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eat is recorded at frequency rank #30,139, classified as averb, pronounced \iːt\. hits is at rank #19,855, tagged as anoun, pronounced \it\.
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 49994, this pair ranks #166,141 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of eat vs hits
Shared letters: t. Private to "eat": ae. Private to "hits": his.
"eat" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "hits" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hits ← hhits · hist · hitss · hitts · ihts
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eat" and "hits" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "eat" or "hits" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "eat" / "hits". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "eat" 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 #166,141 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eat" and "hits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eat vs émit". 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 #166,141 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.