Which to use
“them” is a pronoun and “Thema” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,759
- “them” frequency rank
- #388
- “Thema” frequency rank
- 16147
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | them | Thema |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personalpronomen 3. Person Plural Objektform: ihnen, sie | gedanklicher Mittelpunkt |
Where the eye mixes them and Thema
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. them runs 4 letters (CCVC) against Thema's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between them and Thema
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: them is [ðɛm] while Thema is [ˈteːma]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “them” sits inside “Thema”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
them is recorded at frequency rank #15,759, classified as apron, pronounced [ðɛm]. Thema is at rank #388, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈteːma].
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 16147, this pair ranks #1,938,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of them vs Thema
Shared letters: ehmt. Private to "them": -. Private to "Thema": a.
"them" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "Thema" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "them" for "Thema" ever safe?
Frequency check: "them" vs "Thema" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "them" and "Thema" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "them" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Thema" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,938,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "them" and "Thema" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "them vs thy". 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 #1,938,199 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.