Which to use
“hard” is an adjective and “harm” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,386
- “hard” frequency rank
- #46,723
- “harm” frequency rank
- 55109
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hard | harm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hart, fest | körperlicher oder geistiger Schaden |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hard and harm apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hard is anadjective and harmanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - d in “hard” becomes m in “harm”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hard is recorded at frequency rank #8,386, classified as anadj, pronounced [hɑː(ɹ)d]. harm is at rank #46,723, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].
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 55109, this pair ranks #992,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hard vs harm
Shared letters: ahr. Private to "hard": d. Private to "harm": m.
"hard" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "harm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hard" and "harm" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hard" or "harm"?
Remembering hard vs harm
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “hard”; for a noun, it's “harm”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hard” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable