Both mean to cause damage, but one focuses on immediate physical or emotional pain, and the other on damage or injury in a broader sense.
Verb. To cause physical or emotional pain. The focus is on the feeling of pain. Can also be intransitive: "my leg hurts".
She fell and hurt her knee.
Ella se cayo y se lastimo la rodilla.
His words really hurt me.
Sus palabras realmente me lastimaron.
My back hurts after sitting all day.
Me duele la espalda despues de sentarme todo el dia.
Verb. To cause damage, injury, or negative consequences. More formal and general than "hurt". Includes damage to objects, reputations, relationships.
Smoking harms your health in many ways.
Fumar dana tu salud de muchas maneras.
The scandal harmed his reputation permanently.
El escandalo daño su reputacion de forma permanente.
Pesticides can harm the environment.
Los pesticidas pueden danar el medio ambiente.
Common mistake
Both words work in many contexts, but "harm" sounds more formal and is used in general or abstract situations. "Hurt" is more everyday and expresses immediate pain. You would not say "my knee harms" (it has no object); "harm" is almost always transitive. Correct: "my knee hurts".
Trick to remember it
"Hurt" = pain or injury (immediate, personal). "Harm" = damage or negative consequences (can be abstract). "Hurt feelings" (personal pain). "Harm the environment" (broader damage).
Quick rule
Hurt = pain (physical or emotional, immediate). Harm = damage or negative consequences (more formal).
Did you know?
"Do no harm" is the fundamental medical principle of the Hippocratic oath. "It won't hurt" and "it won't harm" are nearly synonymous in informal use, but "harm" in medical or legal contexts is more precise. "Harmless" and "hurtful" show how each word has its own distinct adjective form.
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
Eating too much sugar can _____ your teeth and overall health.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
I dropped the box on my foot and it really _____!
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Hurt = pain (physical or emotional, immediate). Harm = damage or negative consequences (more formal).
Both words work in many contexts, but "harm" sounds more formal and is used in general or abstract situations. "Hurt" is more everyday and expresses immediate pain. You would not say "my knee harms" (it has no object); "harm" is almost always transitive. Correct: "my knee hurts".
"Hurt" = pain or injury (immediate, personal). "Harm" = damage or negative consequences (can be abstract). "Hurt feelings" (personal pain). "Harm the environment" (broader damage).
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy