thatvstutWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

“that” is a pronoun and “tut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,321
“that” frequency rank
#560
“tut” frequency rank
2881
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature that tut
Definition kennzeichnet ein Ding, eine Person oder einen Vorgang, der räumlich oder von der Vorstellung weiter weg ist 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tun

Where the eye mixes that and tut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
that
3 ch
tut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: that is [ðæt] while tut is [tuːt]. 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 (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

that is recorded at frequency rank #2,321, classified as apron, pronounced [ðæt]. tut is at rank #560, tagged as averb, pronounced [tuːt].

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 2881, this pair ranks #2,001,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of that vs tut

Shared letters: t. Private to "that": ah. Private to "tut": u.

"that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "tut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • thathtat · taht · thatt · thhat · thta · tthat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "that" and "tut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "that" is a pronoun and "tut" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "that" or "tut"?
"tut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #560 in our German list, against #2,321 for "that". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "that" and "tut". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "that" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "that" and "tut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taut vs that". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list