haovshonTell them apart

Quick tell: hao is a verb, hon is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#43,972
“hao” frequency rank
#20,462
“hon” frequency rank
64434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hao hon
Definition Diminuer; s’épuiser; se consumer. Cri de mécontentement. Quelquefois il se répète et s'emploie pour marquer la surprise, l'irrésolution.

Where the eye mixes hao and hon

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
hao
3 ch
hon

Why the eye confuses hao with hon

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hao is \haɔ˦\ while hon is \ɔ̃\. 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 intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64434, 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˦\. hon is at rank #20,462, tagged as anintj, pronounced \ɔ̃\.

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 64434, this pair ranks #77,111 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hao vs hon

Shared letters: ho. Private to "hao": a. Private to "hon": n.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hao" and "hon" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hao" is a verb and "hon" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "hao" or "hon" show up more?
"hon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,462 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.

What to do next

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 "hon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #77,111 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hao" and "hon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hao vs hash". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #77,111 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