Which to use
“hard” is an adjective and “has” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,386
- “hard” frequency rank
- #9,922
- “has” frequency rank
- 18308
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hard | has |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hart, fest | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs have |
Where the eye mixes hard and has
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hard with has
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hard is [hɑː(ɹ)d] while has is [hæz]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18308, 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]. has is at rank #9,922, tagged as averb, pronounced [hæz].
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 18308, this pair ranks #1,919,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hard vs has
Shared letters: ah. Private to "hard": dr. Private to "has": s.
"hard" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "has" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hard ← ahrd · hadr · hardd · harrd · hhard · hrad
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hard" and "has" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "hard" vs "has" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hard" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "has" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,919,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hard" and "has" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "has vs haze". 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 #1,919,484 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.