haovshicTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#43,972
“hao” frequency rank
#16,382
“hic” frequency rank
60354
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hao hic
Definition Diminuer; s’épuiser; se consumer. Nœud ou principale difficulté d’une affaire, problème.

Where the eye mixes hao and hic

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
hao
3 ch
hic

Look-alike desk: hao vs hic

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hao is \haɔ˦\ while hic is ^((h aspiré))\ik\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60354, 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˦\. hic is at rank #16,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ik\.

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 60354, this pair ranks #98,020 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hao vs hic

Shared letters: h. Private to "hao": ao. Private to "hic": ci.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hao" and "hic" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hao" is a verb and "hic" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hao" or "hic"?
"hic" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,382 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

Eye-level mix-up between "hao" and "hic" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hao" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #98,020 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hao" and "hic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hao vs hash". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #98,020 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