Which to use
“han” is an onomatopoeia and “hung” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,553
- “han” frequency rank
- #34,563
- “hung” frequency rank
- 43116
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | han | hung |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Exclamation exprimant le cri sourd et guttural d’un homme fournissant un effort. | Prétérit et participe passé du verbe hang (« pendre, suspendre »). |
Where the eye mixes han and hung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between han and hung
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: han is ^((h aspiré))\ɑ̃\ while hung is \ˈhʌŋ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (onomatopoeia vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
han is recorded at frequency rank #8,553, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɑ̃\. hung is at rank #34,563, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈhʌŋ\.
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 43116, this pair ranks #220,485 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of han vs hung
Shared letters: hn. Private to "han": a. Private to "hung": gu.
"han" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hung ← hhung · hnug · hugn · hungg · hunng · uhng
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "han" for "hung" ever safe?
Which is more common, "han" or "hung"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "han" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #220,485 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "han" and "hung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hung vs hurt". 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 #220,485 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.