Which to use
“thank” and “thing” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #317
- “thank” frequency rank
- #184
- “thing” frequency rank
- 501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thank | thing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | singular of thanks (“an expression of appreciation or gratitude; grateful feelings or thoughts; favour, goodwill, graciousness”) | That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept. |
Where the eye mixes thank and thing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. thank (/ˈθæŋk/) and thing (/ˈθɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thank is recorded at frequency rank #317, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈθæŋk/. thing is at rank #184, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈθɪŋ/.
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 501, this pair ranks #529,308 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of thank vs thing
Shared letters: hnt. Private to "thank": ak. Private to "thing": gi.
"thank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "thing" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC