hungvshurtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,563
“hung” frequency rank
#47,383
“hurt” frequency rank
81946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hung hurt
Definition Prétérit et participe passé du verbe hang (« pendre, suspendre »). Blesser, endolorir, faire du mal.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
hung
4 ch
hurt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hung (\ˈhʌŋ\) and hurt (\ˈhɝt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hung is recorded at frequency rank #34,563, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈhʌŋ\. hurt is at rank #47,383, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈhɝt\.

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 81946, this pair ranks #17,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hung vs hurt

Shared letters: hu. Private to "hung": gn. Private to "hurt": rt.

"hung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hurt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hunghhung · hnug · hugn · hungg · hunng · uhng
  • hurthhurt · hrut · hurrt · hurtt · hutr · uhrt

Frequency comparison

hung#34,563
hurt#47,383

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hung" and "hurt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈhʌŋ\ versus \ˈhɝt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hung" or "hurt"?
"hung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,563 in our French list, against #47,383 for "hurt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hung vs hurt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hung” 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