thinvstineWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: thin is a adjective, tine is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“thin” is an adjective and “tine” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,623
“thin” frequency rank
#49,303
“tine” frequency rank
94926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature thin tine
Definition von geringer Dicke Feuer

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
thin
4 ch
tine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: thin is anadjective and tineanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 94926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

thin is recorded at frequency rank #45,623, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈθɪn]. tine is at rank #49,303, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 94926, this pair ranks #14,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of thin vs tine

Shared letters: int. Private to "thin": h. Private to "tine": e.

"thin" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "tine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • thinhtin · thhin · thinn · thni · tihn · tthin
  • tineitne · tien · tinne · tnie · ttine

Frequency comparison

thin#45,623
tine#49,303

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "thin" and "tine" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "thin" is an adjective and "tine" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "thin" or "tine"?
"thin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,623 in our German list, against #49,303 for "tine". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering thin vs tine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “thin”; for a noun, it's “tine”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thin” 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