holdvsHomsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hold is a adjective, Homs is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hold” is an adjective and “Homs” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,383
“hold” frequency rank
#33,724
“Homs” frequency rank
50107
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hold Homs
Definition Gracieux. Ville située à l’ouest de la Syrie.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
hold
4 ch
Homs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hold is \hɔlt\ while Homs is \ɔms\. 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 (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hold is recorded at frequency rank #16,383, classified as anadj, pronounced \hɔlt\. Homs is at rank #33,724, tagged as aname, pronounced \ɔms\.

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 50107, this pair ranks #165,266 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hold vs Homs

Shared letters: ho. Private to "hold": dl. Private to "Homs": ms.

"hold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Homs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • holdhhold · hlod · hodl · holdd · holld · ohld
  • Homshhoms · hmos · homms · homss · hosm · ohms

Frequency comparison

hold#16,383
Homs#33,724

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hold" and "Homs" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hold" is an adjective and "Homs" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hold" or "Homs"?
"hold" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,383 in our French list, against #33,724 for "Homs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hold vs Homs

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “hold”; for a name, it's “Homs”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hold” 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