haitvshurtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“hait” and “hurt” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,993
“hait” frequency rank
#47,383
“hurt” frequency rank
72376
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hait hurt
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de haïr. Blesser, endolorir, faire du mal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hait and hurt apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hait
4 ch
hurt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hait (^((h aspiré))\ɛ\) and hurt (\ˈhɝt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72376, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hait is recorded at frequency rank #24,993, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɛ\. hurt is at rank #47,383, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈhɝt\.

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 72376, this pair ranks #44,231 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hait vs hurt

Shared letters: ht. Private to "hait": ai. Private to "hurt": ru.

"hait" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "hurt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haitahit · haitt · hati · hhait · hiat
  • hurthhurt · hrut · hurrt · hurtt · hutr · uhrt

Frequency comparison

hait#24,993
hurt#47,383

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hait" and "hurt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (^((h aspiré))\ɛ\ versus \ˈhɝt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hait" or "hurt"?
"hait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,993 in our French list, against #47,383 for "hurt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hait vs hurt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hait” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list