Which to use
“had” and “hao” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,767
- “had” frequency rank
- #43,972
- “hao” frequency rank
- 62739
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | had | hao |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prétérit de have (« avoir »). | Diminuer; s’épuiser; se consumer. |
Where the eye mixes had and hao
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses had with hao
A purely visual mix-up. had (\hæd\) and hao (\haɔ˦\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “had” becomes o in “hao”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62739, 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\. hao is at rank #43,972, tagged as averb, pronounced \haɔ˦\.
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 62739, this pair ranks #85,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of had vs hao
Shared letters: ah. Private to "had": d. Private to "hao": o.
"had" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hao" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "had" for "hao" ever safe?
Frequency check: "had" vs "hao" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "hao" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #85,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "had" and "hao" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hao vs hash". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #85,559 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.