Which to use
“harden” is a verb and “hardly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,554
- “harden” frequency rank
- #2,834
- “hardly” frequency rank
- 17388
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | harden | hardly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To become hard. | Barely, only just, almost not. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set harden and hardly apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: harden is /ˈhɑɹdn̩/ while hardly is /ˈhɑːdli/. 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 (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
harden is recorded at frequency rank #14,554, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhɑɹdn̩/. hardly is at rank #2,834, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈhɑːdli/.
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 17388, this pair ranks #451,734 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of harden vs hardly
Shared letters: adhr. Private to "harden": en. Private to "hardly": ly.
"harden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hardly" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "harden" and "hardly" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "harden" or "hardly"?
Remembering harden vs hardly
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “harden”; for an adverb, it's “hardly”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “harden” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable