Hoping vs. Hopping

Wondering about the difference between hoping and hopping?

The simple verb form of hoping is hope, and the simple verb form of hopping is hop.

Despite having similar spelling, the two verbs hope and hop are entirely different words with different meanings.

Hope (verb): wishing for something to be or happen; intending to do something

Hop (verb): to jump a short distance; to move from one place to another

Now that you know the meaning of the two words, let us see how they are used in context.

Example sentences

If you are having trouble distinguishing between when to use hoping versus hoping, check out these sample sentences to help you learn what context each is used in.

Hoping

I am hoping the admissions office sends out responses soon, so I can know if I got in soon.
Hoping to find more gold, Jason went out to the river again.
The young middle school girls were hoping to see their favorite band at the music festival next month but were disappointed when they found out the event was canceled.
He carefully poured the batter into the cake frame, hoping for his life that his clumsy hands wouldn’t give way and accidentally spill some.
Cody was hoping there wouldn’t be another player on the basketball team better than he was at scoring.
Mother bought a lottery ticket every single day, hoping to escape from poverty the easy way.
Janine was hoping to catch the last bus so she wouldn’t have to call an Uber to go home.
My mentor told me that hoping for something would help me envision the path to that goal.
Sonia was hoping for rain so that her crops would finally get some water, as the drought has left them dehydrated for weeks.
Hoping the lecture would end soon, Ross spun his pen in his hand endlessly.

Hopping

You can see the eager rabbits hopping quickly toward the caretaker with food.
It can be difficult to maintain your balance when you’re hopping on one foot.
Diana got caught by the security guards for hopping the fence, making this her second offense this year.
The coworkers plan to go bar hopping after work on Friday.
The eyewitness stated that he saw the suspect hopping on the 3 PM train to Prague.
The two frogs were hopping from one lily pad to another, racing each other to the spot with the swarm of flies.
The volleyball team’s training involved hopping while squatting from one side of the gym to the other without taking any breaks.
The mother kangaroo was hopping back to the shade of her favorite tree to escape from the scorching rays of the sun.
Please refrain from hopping around in this apartment or the neighbors downstairs will file a noise complaint.
In the past, popular children’s games involved more hopping, skipping, and running, but now, children prefer digital games that are played on consoles or computers.

Practice questions

Now that you learned when to use hoping versus hopping, you can practice by testing yourself with the following practice questions.

Before hoping/hopping on that plane, be sure to take your medication.
Darrell had been hoping/hopping for a promotion since the summer campaign ended.
I realized Carol was injured when I saw her hoping/hopping to the phone on one foot.
Hoping/Hopping to build some connections, Gabriel attended the networking event and tried to talk to as many new people as he could.
The chickadee was hoping/hopping to where the sunflower seeds were dropped.
We were hoping/hopping one of you would bring a cooler for the drinks.
The CEO knew that the whole company was hoping/hopping for an announcement about some new changes in the company soon.
After the graduation ceremony, the alumni went bar hoping/hopping all night until they couldn’t stand anymore.
I was hoping/hopping to hop on a train to New York before the Times Square Ball Drop.
Before I knew it, the rabbits were hoping/hopping out of the trunk to escape into the wild.