Which to use
“that” is a conjunction and “that'd” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “that” frequency rank
- #10,463
- “that'd” frequency rank
- 10473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | that | that'd |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Introducing a clause that is the object of a verb, especially a reporting verb or verb expressing belief, knowledge, perception, etc. | that would |
Where the eye mixes that and that'd
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. that runs 4 letters (CCVC) against that'd's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between that and that'd
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: that is /ðət/ while that'd is /ˈðætəd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “that” sits inside “that'd”, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
that is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as aconj, pronounced /ðət/. that'd is at rank #10,463, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈðætəd/.
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 10473, this pair ranks #492,153 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of that vs that'd
Shared letters: aht. Private to "that": -. Private to "that'd": d.
"that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "that'd" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- that ← htat · taht · thatt · thhat · thta · tthat
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "that" for "that'd" ever safe?
Frequency check: "that" vs "that'd" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "that" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "that'd" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #492,153 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "that" and "that'd" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "that'd vs thawed". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #492,153 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.