Which to use
“thanks” is an intj and “thinks” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #362
- “thanks” frequency rank
- #1,741
- “thinks” frequency rank
- 2103
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thanks | thinks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Used to express appreciation or gratitude. | third-person singular simple present indicative of think |
Where the eye mixes thanks and thinks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thanks is /ˈθæŋks/ while thinks is /θɪŋks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “thanks” becomes i in “thinks”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thanks is recorded at frequency rank #362, classified as anintj, pronounced /ˈθæŋks/. thinks is at rank #1,741, tagged as averb, pronounced /θɪŋks/.
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 2103, this pair ranks #525,851 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of thanks vs thinks
Shared letters: hknst. Private to "thanks": a. Private to "thinks": i.
"thanks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "thinks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC