hâtervshaveWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,928
“hâter” frequency rank
#9,020
“have” frequency rank
51948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hâter have
Definition Faire avancer vite ; accélérer. Petite éminence qui, sur le panneton d’une clé bénarde, empêche celle-ci de traverser la serrure.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
hâter
4 ch
have

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hâter is ^((h aspiré))\ɑ.te\ while have is ^((h aspiré))\av\. 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 51948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hâter is recorded at frequency rank #42,928, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɑ.te\. have is at rank #9,020, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\av\.

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 51948, this pair ranks #151,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hâter vs have

Shared letters: eh. Private to "hâter": rtâ. Private to "have": av.

"hâter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "have" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haveahve · haev · havve · hhave · hvae

Frequency comparison

hâter#42,928
have#9,020

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hâter" and "have" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hâter" is a verb and "have" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hâter" or "have"?
"have" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,020 in our French list, against #42,928 for "hâter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hâter vs have

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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