haovshapTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,972
“hao” frequency rank
#41,324
“hap” frequency rank
85296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hao hap
Definition Diminuer; s’épuiser; se consumer. Ouvrir.

Where the eye mixes hao and hap

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hao (CVV) and hap (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
hao
3 ch
hap

Visual trap between hao and hap

A purely visual mix-up. hao (\haɔ˦\) and hap (\ˈhap\) 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 a single letter - o in “hao” becomes p in “hap”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hao is recorded at frequency rank #43,972, classified as averb, pronounced \haɔ˦\. hap is at rank #41,324, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈhap\.

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 85296, this pair ranks #11,572 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hao vs hap

Shared letters: ah. Private to "hao": o. Private to "hap": p.

"hao" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "hap" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hao" and "hap" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\haɔ˦\ versus \ˈhap\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hao" vs "hap" - which ranks higher?
"hap" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,324 in our French list, against #43,972 for "hao". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hao" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hap" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,572 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hao" and "hap" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hao vs hash". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #11,572 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list