harevsholeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,876
“hare” frequency rank
#28,986
“hole” frequency rank
65862
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hare hole
Definition Variante de hart. Trou.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
hare
4 ch
hole

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hare (\aʁ\) and hole (\ˈhoʊl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hare is recorded at frequency rank #36,876, classified as anoun, pronounced \aʁ\. hole is at rank #28,986, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈhoʊl\.

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 65862, this pair ranks #70,437 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hare vs hole

Shared letters: eh. Private to "hare": ar. Private to "hole": lo.

"hare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hareahre · haer · harre · hhare · hrae
  • holehhole · hloe · hoel · holle · ohle

Frequency comparison

hare#36,876
hole#28,986

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hare" and "hole" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\aʁ\ versus \ˈhoʊl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hare" or "hole"?
"hole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,986 in our French list, against #36,876 for "hare". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hare vs hole

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hare” 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