Which to use
“that” is a conjunction and “tho” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “that” frequency rank
- #3,588
- “tho” frequency rank
- 3598
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | that | tho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Introducing a clause that is the object of a verb, especially a reporting verb or verb expressing belief, knowledge, perception, etc. | The (plural form); those. |
Where the eye mixes that and tho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: that is /ðət/ while tho is /ðəʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
that is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as aconj, pronounced /ðət/. tho is at rank #3,588, tagged as anarticle, pronounced /ðəʊ/.
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 3598, this pair ranks #521,636 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of that vs tho
Shared letters: ht. Private to "that": a. Private to "tho": o.
"that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "tho" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- that ← htat · taht · thatt · thhat · thta · tthat