nth vs NTSB, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nth” is an adjective and “NTSB” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,102
“nth” frequency rank: #39,935
“NTSB” frequency rank: 72037
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nth	NTSB
Definition	Occurring at position n in a sequence.	Initialism of National Transportation Safety Board.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nth and NTSB apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

nth

4 ch

NTSB

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nth is anadjective and NTSBaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nth is recorded at frequency rank #32,102, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɛnθ/. NTSB is at rank #39,935, tagged as aname.

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 72037, this pair ranks #44,446 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nth vs NTSB

Shared letters: nt. Private to "nth": h. Private to "NTSB": bs.

"nth" · 3 letters · shape CCC · "NTSB" · 4 letters · shape CCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

NTSB ← nntsb · nstb · ntbs · ntsbb · ntssb · nttsb · tnsb

Frequency comparison

nth#32,102

NTSB#39,935

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nth" and "NTSB" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nth" is an adjective and "NTSB" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nth" or "NTSB"?

"nth" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,102 in our English list, against #39,935 for "NTSB". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nth vs NTSB

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “nth”; for a name, it's “NTSB”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nth” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable