hábilvshaniWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hábil is a adjective, hani is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hábil” is an adjective and “hani” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,088
“hábil” frequency rank
#35,622
“hani” frequency rank
51710
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hábil hani
Definition que sabe executar, que faz bem galo, macho da galinha (Gallus gallus)

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
hábil
4 ch
hani

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hábil is /ˈa.biɫ/ while hani is /ˈhaː.nɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hábil is recorded at frequency rank #16,088, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈa.biɫ/. hani is at rank #35,622, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhaː.nɪ/.

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 51710, this pair ranks #13,383 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hábil vs hani

Shared letters: hi. Private to "hábil": blá. Private to "hani": an.

"hábil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "hani" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haniahni · hain · hanni · hhani · hnai

Frequency comparison

hábil#16,088
hani#35,622

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hábil" and "hani" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hábil" is an adjective and "hani" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hábil" or "hani"?
"hábil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,088 in our Portuguese list, against #35,622 for "hani". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hábil vs hani

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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