h vs hão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“h” is a symbol and “hão” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,433
“h” frequency rank: #24,033
“hão” frequency rank: 25466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	h	hão
Definition	símbolo de hora:	terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo haver

Letter map: h vs hão

Shared letters muted; letters that set h and hão apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

1 ch

3 ch

hão

Grammar separator: h vs hão

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: h is asymbol and hãoaverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “h” sits inside “hão”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

h is recorded at frequency rank #1,433, classified as asymbol. hão is at rank #24,033, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɐ̃w̃/ [ˈɐ̃ʊ̯̃].

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 25466, this pair ranks #43,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of h vs hão

Shared letters: h. Private to "h": -. Private to "hão": oã.

"h" · 1 letters · shape C · "hão" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "h" for "hão" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "h" is a symbol and "hão" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "h" or "hão" show up more?

"h" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,433 in our Portuguese list, against #24,033 for "hão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pair "h" vs "hão" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "h" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "hão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #43,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"h" and "hão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hão vs hui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #43,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.