Which to use
“hit” is a verb and “hurt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,308
- “hit” frequency rank
- #23,362
- “hurt” frequency rank
- 28670
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hit | hurt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | atingir | machucado, ferido |
Letter map: hit vs hurt
Shared letters muted; letters that set hit and hurt apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: hit vs hurt
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hit is averb and hurtanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hit is recorded at frequency rank #5,308, classified as averb. hurt is at rank #23,362, tagged as anadj, pronounced /hɜːt/.
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 28670, this pair ranks #40,132 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hit vs hurt
Shared letters: ht. Private to "hit": i. Private to "hurt": ru.
"hit" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hurt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hurt ← hhurt · hrut · hurrt · hurtt · hutr · uhrt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hit" for "hurt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hit" or "hurt"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hit" and "hurt".
- Full dictionary entry for "hit" 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 #40,132 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hit" and "hurt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hui 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 #40,132 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.