Which to use
“thank” is a verb and “that” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,346
- “thank” frequency rank
- #2,321
- “that” frequency rank
- 27667
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thank | that |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich für etwas erkenntlich zeigen | kennzeichnet ein Ding, eine Person oder einen Vorgang, der räumlich oder von der Vorstellung weiter weg ist |
Where the eye mixes thank and that
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between thank and that
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thank is [θæŋk] while that is [ðæt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thank is recorded at frequency rank #25,346, classified as averb, pronounced [θæŋk]. that is at rank #2,321, tagged as apron, pronounced [ðæt].
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 27667, this pair ranks #1,797,964 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of thank vs that
Shared letters: aht. Private to "thank": kn. Private to "that": -.
"thank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "thank" and "that" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "thank" vs "that" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "thank" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "that" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,797,964 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thank" and "that" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thank vs tränke". 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 #1,797,964 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.