hampevshommeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,204
“hampe” frequency rank
#152
“homme” frequency rank
46356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hampe homme
Definition Long manche ou support, généralement en bois, d’un pinceau, d’une arme d’hast, d’une pertuisane, d’un épieu, d’un écouvillon ou d’un refouloir. Être humain adulte de genre ou de sexe masculin, par opposition à la femme et à l’enfant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hampe and homme apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hampe
5 ch
homme

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hampe (^((h aspiré))\ɑ̃p\) and homme (^((h muet))\ɔm\) 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 46356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hampe is recorded at frequency rank #46,204, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɑ̃p\. homme is at rank #152, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h muet))\ɔm\.

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 46356, this pair ranks #195,644 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hampe vs homme

Shared letters: ehm. Private to "hampe": ap. Private to "homme": o.

"hampe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "homme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hampeahmpe · hamep · hammpe · hamppe · hapme · hhampe · hmape
  • hommehhomme · hmome · homem · ohmme

Frequency comparison

hampe#46,204
homme#152

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hampe" and "homme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (^((h aspiré))\ɑ̃p\ versus ^((h muet))\ɔm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hampe" or "homme"?
"homme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #152 in our French list, against #46,204 for "hampe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering hampe vs homme

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 “hampe” 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