Which to use
“hole” and “hour” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,052
- “hole” frequency rank
- #13,099
- “hour” frequency rank
- 39151
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hole | hour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | buraco | hora |
Where the eye mixes hole and hour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hole (CVCV) and hour (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: hole vs hour
A purely visual mix-up. hole (/hoʊl/) and hour (/aʊr/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hole is recorded at frequency rank #26,052, classified as anoun, pronounced /hoʊl/. hour is at rank #13,099, tagged as anoun, pronounced /aʊr/.
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 39151, this pair ranks #27,170 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hole vs hour
Shared letters: ho. Private to "hole": el. Private to "hour": ru.
"hole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "hour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hole" and "hour" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "hole" vs "hour" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,170 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hole" and "hour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hebe vs hole". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #27,170 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.