Which to use
“teary” is an adjective and “thay” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,553
- “teary” frequency rank
- #43,958
- “thay” frequency rank
- 79511
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | teary | thay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Of a person, having eyes filled with tears; inclined to cry. | Pronunciation spelling of the. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set teary and thay apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: teary is anadjective and thayanarticle. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
teary is recorded at frequency rank #35,553, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈtɪəɹi/. thay is at rank #43,958, tagged as anarticle.
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 79511, this pair ranks #21,885 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of teary vs thay
Shared letters: aty. Private to "teary": er. Private to "thay": h.
"teary" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "thay" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "teary" and "thay" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "teary" or "thay"?
Remembering teary vs thay
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “teary”; for an article, it's “thay”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “teary” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable