Which to use
“them” is a pronoun and “tom” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,759
- “them” frequency rank
- #2,521
- “tom” frequency rank
- 18280
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | them | tom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personalpronomen 3. Person Plural Objektform: ihnen, sie | ohne Inhalt; leer |
Where the eye mixes them and tom
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses them with tom
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: them is [ðɛm] while tom is [tum]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18280, 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]. tom is at rank #2,521, tagged as anadj, pronounced [tum].
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 18280, this pair ranks #1,919,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of them vs tom
Shared letters: mt. Private to "them": eh. Private to "tom": o.
"them" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "tom" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- them ← htem · tehm · themm · thhem · thme · tthem
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "them" and "tom" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "them" or "tom"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "them" and "tom" 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 "tom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,919,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "them" and "tom" 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 #1,919,728 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.