Which to use
“harm” is a noun and “hurt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,723
- “harm” frequency rank
- #43,976
- “hurt” frequency rank
- 90699
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | harm | hurt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | körperlicher oder geistiger Schaden | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs huren |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set harm and hurt apart are highlighted. They share 2 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: harm is anoun and hurtaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
harm is recorded at frequency rank #46,723, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. 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 90699, this pair ranks #44,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of harm vs hurt
Shared letters: hr. Private to "harm": am. Private to "hurt": tu.
"harm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hurt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "harm" and "hurt" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "harm" or "hurt"?
Remembering harm vs hurt
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “harm”; for a verb, it's “hurt”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “harm” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable