hamavshamacWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hama is a adjective, hamac is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hama” is an adjective and “hamac” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,985
“hama” frequency rank
#37,356
“hamac” frequency rank
69341
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hama hamac
Definition Flou, incertain, inconcevable. Lit formé d’un morceau de toile ou d’un filet, suspendu horizontalement à deux points fixes par ses extrémités, de manière à pouvoir se balancer, dormir ou se reposer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hama and hamac apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hama
5 ch
hamac

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hama is \ˈhɑ.mɑ\ while hamac is ^((h aspiré))\a.mak\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “hama” sits inside “hamac”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hama is recorded at frequency rank #31,985, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈhɑ.mɑ\. hamac is at rank #37,356, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\a.mak\.

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 69341, this pair ranks #55,518 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hama vs hamac

Shared letters: ahm. Private to "hama": -. Private to "hamac": c.

"hama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hamac" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hamaahma · haam · hamma · hhama · hmaa
  • hamacahmac · haamc · hamacc · hamca · hammac · hhamac · hmaac

Frequency comparison

hama#31,985
hamac#37,356

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hama" and "hamac" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hama" is an adjective and "hamac" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hama" or "hamac"?
"hama" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,985 in our French list, against #37,356 for "hamac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hama vs hamac

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “hama”; for a noun, it's “hamac”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hama” 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