Which to use
“that” is a conjunction and “thatch” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “that” frequency rank
- #41,421
- “thatch” frequency rank
- 41431
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | that | thatch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Introducing a clause that is the object of a verb, especially a reporting verb or verb expressing belief, knowledge, perception, etc. | Straw, rushes, or similar, used for making or covering the roofs of buildings, or of stacks of hay or grain. |
Where the eye mixes that and thatch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between that and thatch
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: that is /ðət/ while thatch is /θæt͡ʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “that” sits inside “thatch”, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
that is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as aconj, pronounced /ðət/. thatch is at rank #41,421, tagged as anoun, pronounced /θæt͡ʃ/.
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 41431, this pair ranks #258,461 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of that vs thatch
Shared letters: aht. Private to "that": -. Private to "thatch": c.
"that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "thatch" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "that" for "thatch" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "that" or "thatch" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "thatch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,461 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "that" and "thatch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thatch vs thatched". 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 #258,461 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.