Which to use
“hark” and “hearn” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,592
- “hark” frequency rank
- #34,519
- “hearn” frequency rank
- 71111
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hark | hearn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To listen attentively. | past participle of hear |
Where the eye mixes hark and hearn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hark runs 4 letters (CVCC) against hearn's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between hark and hearn
A purely visual mix-up. hark (/hɑː(ɹ)k/) and hearn (/ˈhɪən/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71111, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hark is recorded at frequency rank #36,592, classified as averb, pronounced /hɑː(ɹ)k/. hearn is at rank #34,519, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhɪən/.
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 71111, this pair ranks #47,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hark vs hearn
Shared letters: ahr. Private to "hark": k. Private to "hearn": en.
"hark" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hearn" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hark" and "hearn" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "hark" vs "hearn" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hark" and "hearn" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hark" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hearn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hark" and "hearn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hark 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 #47,941 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.