humavshummmWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: huma is a verb, hummm is an onomatopoeia, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“huma” is a verb and “hummm” is an onomatopoeia - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,848
“huma” frequency rank
#49,134
“hummm” frequency rank
81982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature huma hummm
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de humer. Onomatopée issue de la délectation de boire ou de manger.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set huma and hummm apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
huma
5 ch
hummm

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: huma is averb and hummmanonomatopoeia. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

huma is recorded at frequency rank #32,848, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\y.ma\. hummm is at rank #49,134, tagged as anonomatopoeia.

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 81982, this pair ranks #17,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of huma vs hummm

Shared letters: hmu. Private to "huma": a. Private to "hummm": -.

"huma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hummm" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • humahhuma · hmua · huam · humma · uhma
  • hummmhhummm · hmumm · humm · uhmmm

Frequency comparison

huma#32,848
hummm#49,134

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "huma" and "hummm" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "huma" is a verb and "hummm" an onomatopoeia, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "huma" or "hummm"?
"huma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,848 in our French list, against #49,134 for "hummm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering huma vs hummm

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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