Which to use
“half” and “hao” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,750
- “half” frequency rank
- #43,972
- “hao” frequency rank
- 64722
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | half | hao |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du prétérit de helfen. | Diminuer; s’épuiser; se consumer. |
Where the eye mixes half and hao
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: half vs hao
A purely visual mix-up. half (\half\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64722, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
half is recorded at frequency rank #20,750, classified as averb, pronounced \half\. 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 64722, this pair ranks #75,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of half vs hao
Shared letters: ah. Private to "half": fl. Private to "hao": o.
"half" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hao" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- half ← ahlf · hafl · halff · hallf · hhalf · hlaf
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "half" for "hao" ever safe?
Which is more common, "half" or "hao"?
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 "half" 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 #75,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "half" and "hao" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hao 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 #75,662 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.