hão
/ˈɐ̃w̃/ [ˈɐ̃ʊ̯̃]
The verdict
“hão” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #24,033) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #24,033
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 995
- “H” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo haver
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hão |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈɐ̃w̃/ [ˈɐ̃ʊ̯̃] |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #24,033 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hão” sits in Portuguese frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for hão is neighbouring look-alikes ("he", "ho", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /ˈɐ̃w̃/ [ˈɐ̃ʊ̯̃]. Frequency #24,033 among 995 “H” headwords. Gloss: "terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo haver".
No misspelling variants are generated for hão in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable Portuguese rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "he", "ho", "HC", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Portuguese form is hão, spelled H-Ã-O.
Definition
- 1terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo haver
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "hão"?
What does "hão" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “hão”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is H-Ã-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɐ̃w̃/ [ˈɐ̃ʊ̯̃] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “he” - see the side-by-side comparison. hão vs he
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Words at a similar Portuguese frequency
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.