# ten vs the

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### ten
*num · IPA /tɛn/ · frequency rank #959*
The number occurring after nine and before eleven, represented in Arabic numerals (base ten) as 10 and in Roman numerals as X.

### the
*article · IPA /ðə/ · frequency rank #1*
Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ten-vs-the