Which to use
“hares” is a noun and “hurts” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,482
- “hares” frequency rank
- #4,309
- “hurts” frequency rank
- 41791
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hares | hurts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hare | third-person singular simple present indicative of hurt |
Where the eye mixes hares and hurts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hares (CVCVC) and hurts (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between hares and hurts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hares is /hɛɚz/ while hurts is /hɜːts/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hares is recorded at frequency rank #37,482, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɛɚz/. hurts is at rank #4,309, tagged as averb, pronounced /hɜːts/.
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 41791, this pair ranks #255,160 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hares vs hurts
Shared letters: hrs. Private to "hares": ae. Private to "hurts": tu.
"hares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hurts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hares" and "hurts" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "hares" vs "hurts" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hares" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hurts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,160 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hares" and "hurts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hares vs Hoare". 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 #255,160 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.