thankvsthatWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: thank is a verb, that is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set thank and that apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
thank
4 ch
that

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

thank and that form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. 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.

Frequency comparison

thank#25,346
that#2,321

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "thank" and "that" be used interchangeably?
No, "thank" and "that" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering thank vs that

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “thank”; for a pronoun, it's “that”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thank” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list