Which to use
“hon” and “hou” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,462
- “hon” frequency rank
- #26,040
- “hou” frequency rank
- 46502
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hon | hou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cri de mécontentement. Quelquefois il se répète et s'emploie pour marquer la surprise, l'irrésolution. | Suppose le cri d’un fantôme. |
Where the eye mixes hon and hou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hon with hou
A purely visual mix-up. hon (\ɔ̃\) and hou (^((h aspiré))\u\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “hon” becomes u in “hou”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hon is recorded at frequency rank #20,462, classified as anintj, pronounced \ɔ̃\. hou is at rank #26,040, tagged as anintj, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\u\.
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 46502, this pair ranks #194,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hon vs hou
Shared letters: ho. Private to "hon": n. Private to "hou": u.
"hon" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hon" and "hou" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "hon" or "hou" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hon" and "hou" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #194,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hon" and "hou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hou". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #194,409 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.