harvsHarmsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: har is a adverb, Harms is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“har” is an adverb and “Harms” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,383
“har” frequency rank
#31,599
“Harms” frequency rank
67982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature har Harms
Definition dort Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Harm

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
har
5 ch
Harms

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: har is [hɛaɹ] while Harms is [haʁms]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “har” sits inside “Harms”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

har is recorded at frequency rank #36,383, classified as anadv, pronounced [hɛaɹ]. Harms is at rank #31,599, tagged as anoun, pronounced [haʁms].

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 67982, this pair ranks #522,491 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of har vs Harms

Shared letters: ahr. Private to "har": -. Private to "Harms": ms.

"har" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Harms" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Harmsahrms · hamrs · harmms · harmss · harrms · harsm · hharms · hrams

Frequency comparison

har#36,383
Harms#31,599

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "har" and "Harms" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "har" is an adverb and "Harms" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "har" or "Harms"?
"Harms" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,599 in our German list, against #36,383 for "har". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering har vs Harms

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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