Which to use
“had” is a verb and “han” is an onomatopoeia - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,767
- “had” frequency rank
- #8,553
- “han” frequency rank
- 27320
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | had | han |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prétérit de have (« avoir »). | Exclamation exprimant le cri sourd et guttural d’un homme fournissant un effort. |
Where the eye mixes had and han
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between had and han
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: had is \hæd\ while han is ^((h aspiré))\ɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “had” becomes n in “han”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs onomatopoeia), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
had is recorded at frequency rank #18,767, classified as averb, pronounced \hæd\. han is at rank #8,553, tagged as anonomatopoeia, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɑ̃\.
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 27320, this pair ranks #329,730 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of had vs han
Shared letters: ah. Private to "had": d. Private to "han": n.
"had" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "han" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "had" and "han" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "had" or "han" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "had" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "han" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #329,730 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "had" and "han" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "had vs hash". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #329,730 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.