hiatovshitWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hiato is a noun, hit is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hiato” is a noun and “hit” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,000
“hiato” frequency rank
#5,308
“hit” frequency rank
34308
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hiato hit
Definition sequência de duas vogais que pertencem a sílabas diferentes atingir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hiato and hit apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hiato
3 ch
hit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hiato is anoun and hitaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34308, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hiato is recorded at frequency rank #29,000, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈja.tu/. hit is at rank #5,308, tagged as averb.

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 34308, this pair ranks #32,995 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hiato vs hit

Shared letters: hit. Private to "hiato": ao. Private to "hit": -.

"hiato" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "hit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hiatohaito · hhiato · hiaot · hiatto · hitao · ihato

Frequency comparison

hiato#29,000
hit#5,308

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hiato" and "hit" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hiato" is a noun and "hit" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hiato" or "hit"?
"hit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,308 in our Portuguese list, against #29,000 for "hiato". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hiato vs hit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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