haovshecWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hao is a verb, hec is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hao” is a verb and “hec” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,972
“hao” frequency rank
#16,639
“hec” frequency rank
60611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hao hec
Definition Diminuer; s’épuiser; se consumer. Planche qu'on pose sur la vendange avant de la soumettre à l'action du pressoir.

Letter map: hao vs hec

Shared letters muted; letters that set hao and hec apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
hao
3 ch
hec

Role in the sentence - hao and hec

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hao is averb and hecanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60611, 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˦\. hec is at rank #16,639, tagged as anoun.

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 60611, this pair ranks #96,739 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hao vs hec

Shared letters: h. Private to "hao": ao. Private to "hec": ce.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hao" and "hec" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hao" is a verb and "hec" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "hao" or "hec" show up more?
"hec" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,639 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.

After this comparison

You've compared "hao" and "hec". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hao" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hec" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #96,739 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hao" and "hec" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hao vs hash". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #96,739 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