Which to use
“third” is a num and “thorn” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,170
- “third” frequency rank
- #32,808
- “thorn” frequency rank
- 54978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | third | thorn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dritte; dem zweiten folgend und dem vierten vorausgehend | der Dorn |
Letter map: third vs thorn
Shared letters muted; letters that set third and thorn apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Role in the sentence - third and thorn
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: third is anum and thornanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
third is recorded at frequency rank #22,170, classified as anum, pronounced [θɜːd]. thorn is at rank #32,808, 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 54978, this pair ranks #997,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of third vs thorn
Shared letters: hrt. Private to "third": di. Private to "thorn": no.
"third" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "thorn" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "third" for "thorn" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "third" or "thorn" show up more?
After this comparison
Pair "third" vs "thorn" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "third" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thorn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #997,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "third" and "thorn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs thorn". 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 #997,482 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.