thatsvstortsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“thats” and “torts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,922
“thats” frequency rank
#43,969
“torts” frequency rank
46891
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature thats torts
Definition plural of that Synonym of tort law (“the area of law dealing with wrongful acts, whether intentional or negligent, regarded as non-criminal and unrelated to contracts, which cause injuries and can be remedied in civil courts, usually through the awarding of damages”).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set thats and torts apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
thats
5 ch
torts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

thats and torts are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

thats is recorded at frequency rank #2,922, classified as anoun. torts is at rank #43,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɔːts/.

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 46891, this pair ranks #207,481 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of thats vs torts

Shared letters: st. Private to "thats": ah. Private to "torts": or.

"thats" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "torts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • thatshtats · tahts · thast · thatss · thatts · thhats · thtas · tthats
  • tortsotrts · torrts · torst · tortss · tortts · totrs · trots · ttorts

Frequency comparison

thats#2,922
torts#43,969

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "thats" and "torts" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "thats" or "torts"?
"thats" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,922 in our English list, against #43,969 for "torts". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering thats vs torts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thats” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list