Which to use
“há” and “hão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #88
- “há” frequency rank
- #24,033
- “hão” frequency rank
- 24121
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | há | hão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo haver | terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo haver |
Letter map: há vs hão
Shared letters muted; letters that set há and hão apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Pair insight - há / hão
há and hão are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
há is recorded at frequency rank #88, classified as averb. 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 24121, this pair ranks #45,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of há vs hão
Shared letters: h. Private to "há": á. Private to "hão": oã.
"há" · 2 letters · shape CV · "hão" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "há" and "hão" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "há" or "hão"?
Useful next steps
Pair "há" vs "hão" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "há" 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 #45,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "há" and "hão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hão vs hui". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #45,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.