haïrvshariConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#14,052
“haïr” frequency rank
#42,378
“hari” frequency rank
56430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature haïr hari
Definition Détester, sentir de l’aversion envers, abhorrer, exécrer (quelque chose ou quelqu’un). Fil.

Letter map: haïr vs hari

Shared letters muted; letters that set haïr and hari apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. haïr (CVCC) and hari (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
haïr
4 ch
hari

Grammar separator: haïr vs hari

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: haïr is averb and harianoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

haïr is recorded at frequency rank #14,052, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\a.iʁ\. hari is at rank #42,378, tagged as anoun.

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 56430, this pair ranks #121,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of haïr vs hari

Shared letters: ahr. Private to "haïr": ï. Private to "hari": i.

"haïr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hari" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hari ← ahri · hair · harri · hhari · hrai

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "haïr" and "hari" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "haïr" is a verb and "hari" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "haïr" or "hari" show up more?
"haïr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,052 in our French list, against #42,378 for "hari". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "haïr" vs "hari" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "haïr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hari" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #121,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "haïr" and "hari" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hari vs hash". 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 #121,142 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list