haovsheroWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#43,972
“hao” frequency rank
#17,729
“hero” frequency rank
61701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hao hero
Definition Diminuer; s’épuiser; se consumer. Héros, personne héroïque, personne d’un grand courage.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hao and hero apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
hao
4 ch
hero

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hao is \haɔ˦\ while hero is \ˈhɪɹ.oʊ\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61701, 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˦\. hero is at rank #17,729, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈhɪɹ.oʊ\.

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 61701, this pair ranks #90,907 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hao vs hero

Shared letters: ho. Private to "hao": a. Private to "hero": er.

"hao" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "hero" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heroehro · heor · herro · hhero · hreo

Frequency comparison

hao#43,972
hero#17,729

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hao" and "hero" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hao" is a verb and "hero" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hao" or "hero"?
"hero" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,729 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.

Remembering hao vs hero

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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