Which to use
“tern” is a noun and “then” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,923
- “tern” frequency rank
- #91
- “then” frequency rank
- 41014
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tern | then |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of various seabirds of the subfamily Sterninae (of the family Laridae) that are similar to gulls but are smaller and have a forked tail. | At that time. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tern and then apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
tern and then form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tern is recorded at frequency rank #40,923, classified as anoun, pronounced /tɜːn/. then is at rank #91, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ðɛn/.
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 41014, this pair ranks #262,308 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tern" and "then" be used interchangeably?
Remembering tern vs then
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tern”; for an adverb, it's “then”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tern” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable