hocvsHQWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,770
“hoc” frequency rank
#34,121
“HQ” frequency rank
52891
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hoc HQ
Definition Sorte de jeu de carte introduit, parait-il, en France par Mazarin. QG, quartier général.

Letter map: hoc vs HQ

Shared letters muted; letters that set hoc and HQ apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
hoc
2 ch
HQ

Corpus notes: hoc and HQ

hoc and HQ are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hoc is recorded at frequency rank #18,770, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɔk\. HQ is at rank #34,121, tagged as anoun.

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 52891, this pair ranks #144,533 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hoc vs HQ

Shared letters: h. Private to "hoc": co. Private to "HQ": q.

"hoc" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "HQ" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hoc" for "HQ" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "hoc" vs "HQ" - which ranks higher?
"hoc" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,770 in our French list, against #34,121 for "HQ". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "hoc" and "HQ". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hoc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "HQ" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #144,533 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hoc" and "HQ" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs HQ". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #144,533 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