Which to use
“hard” is an adjective and “hurt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,386
- “hard” frequency rank
- #43,976
- “hurt” frequency rank
- 52362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hard | hurt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hart, fest | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs huren |
Where the eye mixes hard and hurt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hard and hurt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses hard with hurt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hard is [hɑː(ɹ)d] while hurt is [huːɐ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52362, 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]. hurt is at rank #43,976, tagged as averb, pronounced [huːɐ̯t].
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 52362, this pair ranks #1,099,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hard vs hurt
Shared letters: hr. Private to "hard": ad. Private to "hurt": tu.
"hard" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hurt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hard" and "hurt" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "hard" or "hurt" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "hurt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,099,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hard" and "hurt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hum vs hurt". 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 #1,099,834 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.