hepvshomTell them apart

Which to use

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

#47,935
“hep” frequency rank
#33,723
“hom” frequency rank
81658
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hep hom
Definition Sert principalement à appeler ou interpeller quelqu’un. Qui exprime le doute, la défiance.

Where the eye mixes hep and hom

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. hep and hom follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
hep
3 ch
hom

Why the eye confuses hep with hom

A purely visual mix-up. hep (\ɛp\) and hom (^((h aspiré))\ɔm\) 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 81658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hep is recorded at frequency rank #47,935, classified as anintj, pronounced \ɛp\. hom is at rank #33,723, tagged as anintj, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɔm\.

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 81658, this pair ranks #18,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hep vs hom

Shared letters: h. Private to "hep": ep. Private to "hom": mo.

"hep" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hom" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hep" and "hom" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛp\ versus ^((h aspiré))\ɔm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hep" vs "hom" - which ranks higher?
"hom" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,723 in our French list, against #47,935 for "hep". 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 "hep" and "hom" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hep" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hep" and "hom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hep". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #18,297 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