Word Confusion: Hoped versus Hopped

Posted June 4, 2018 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
26 Nov 2022

I hoped my way over to Amy’s hospital room where I hopped she would be improving.

Okay, so both words weren’t in the same sentence, when I ran across the sister who was hopping so hard that Amy would be okay. But I still can’t help wondering if all that hopping helped.

I’m hoping that the next story this writer creates isn’t quite so hopped up on the hoping.

NOTE: This post is addressing the root verbs hope and hop only.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Hoped	Hopped
Get Out of Here! by the US Army is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — They hoped to avoid getting burned.	Jumping Squirrel by Tambako The Jaguar is under the CC BY-ND 2.0 license, via Flickr. — Nah, that squirrel hopped.
Part of Grammar:
Root word: hope Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: hopes Past tense or past participle: hoped Present participle: hoping	Root word: hop Verb ¹, intransitive & transitive ² Third person present verb: hops Past tense or past participle: hopped Present participle: hopping
Noun: The focus in this post is on the verbal -ed (-ing) ending Verb, intransitive: Want something to happen or be the case Intend if possible to do something [Archaic; usually followed by in] To place trust Rely Verb, transitive: To look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence To believe, desire, or trust	Noun: The focus in this post is on the verbal -ed (-ing) ending Verb, intransitive: [Of a person] Move by jumping on one foot ¹ To move with light bounding skips or leaps [Of a bird or other animal] Move by jumping with two or all feet at once Spring or leap a short distance with one jump [Informal] Pass quickly from one place to another [Informal] To move quickly or be busily active Make a quick change of position, location, or activity To make a quick trip, especially in an airplane [Usually as noun in combination; -hopping; of an aircraft or ferry] Travel frequently, move often, or pass quickly from one place to another [British; informal; hop it] Go away quickly Verb, transitive: Jump over something ¹ [Informal] Board (a bus, airplane, or other mode of transportation) [North American; informal] Jump onto a moving vehicle Flavor with hops ² [Informal; be hopped up] Be stimulated or intoxicated by or as if by a psychoactive drug [Informal; slang] To increase the power or energy of To excite Make enthusiastic
Examples:
Verb, intransitive: He had hoped for an offer of compensation. I hoped that the kids were OK. We’re hoping to address all these issues. Jenny is hoping for an early spring. I just hoped the snow would stop. Here’s hoping. Verb, transitive: I hoped that my work would be satisfactory. I hoped that you would join us for dinner. We hoped to buy a house in the spring.	Verb, intransitive: Ray hopped around as if his feet were on fire. A blackbird was hopping around in the sun. He hopped down from the rock. Let’s hop over to grab an ice cream from Chocolate Chisel. Over the years he hopped from one department to another. The travel agency has two-week island-hopping packages. Nah, Jim and Mary party-hopped last night. They won’t be up yet. I heard they hopped it. She hopped in and they were off. The shipping department is hopping this week. Verb, transitive: The cow hopped the fence. She hopped a train in Winnipeg. Did you see that? He hopped a two-foot wide ditch! Ex-soldiers looking for work hopped freight trains heading west. It was a strong dark beer, heavily hopped. Jeez, that guy is really hopped up. Yeah, Tony hopped up that old Mustang of his. It could really move.
Derivatives:
Adjective: hopeful, hopefully, hopeless, unhoping Adverb: hopingly, hopelessly, unhopingly Noun: hopeful, hopefulness, hoper, hopelessness, self-hope	Adjective: hoppy Noun: hophead, hopping
Phrasal Verb
	hopped in hopped out hopping in hopping out
History of the Word:
Late Old English hopa (noun), hopian (verb), is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch hoop (noun), hopen (verb), and the German hoffen (verb).	Old English hoppian, of Germanic origin; related to the German dialect hopfen and the German hopsen. Late Middle English hoppe in the sense of ripened hop cones for flavoring malt liquor is from the Middle Low German or the Middle Dutch.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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