Which to use
“hors” is a preposition and “how” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #688
- “hors” frequency rank
- #10,887
- “how” frequency rank
- 11575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hors | how |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Préposition servant à marquer l’exclusion du lieu. | Comment, de quelle manière. |
Where the eye mixes hors and how
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hors with how
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hors is ^((h aspiré))\ɔʁ\ while how is \ˈhaʊ\. 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 (preposition vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hors is recorded at frequency rank #688, classified as aprep, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɔʁ\. how is at rank #10,887, tagged as anadv, pronounced \ˈhaʊ\.
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 11575, this pair ranks #408,653 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hors vs how
Shared letters: ho. Private to "hors": rs. Private to "how": w.
"hors" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "how" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hors ← hhors · horrs · horss · hosr · hros · ohrs
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hors" and "how" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hors" or "how"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hors" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "how" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #408,653 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hors" and "how" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs how". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #408,653 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.