they're

[…]

/[…]/ abbrev

The verdict

“they're” is uncommon German (frequency #63,838 among 35,386 “T” headwords), classed as an abbreviation. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,838
frequency rank, German
35,386
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - „they are:“ sie sind

Key facts for they're
PropertyValue
Headwordthey're
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
IPA[…]
Letters7
Frequency rank#63,838
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “they're” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). they're lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

they're is uncommon German at frequency #63,838 among 35,386 “T” headwords, classed as anabbreviation, transcribed […]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "„they are:“ sie sind".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for they're, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is they're, spelled T-H-E-Y-'-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    „they are:“ sie sind

Antonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "they're"?
"they're" is spelled T-H-E-Y-'-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is […].
What does "they're" mean?
As an abbreviation, "they're" means: „they are:“ sie sind
How do you pronounce "they're"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "they're" is […]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "they're" come from?
"they're" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “they're”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is T-H-E-Y-'-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as […] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words

Other uncommon German words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list