Which to use
“their” is a determiner and “theirs” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #56
- “their” frequency rank
- #7,623
- “theirs” frequency rank
- 7679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | their | theirs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural). | That or those belonging to them; the possessive case of they, used without a following noun. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set their and theirs apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: their is /ðɛə/ while theirs is /ðɛəz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “their” sits inside “theirs”, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
their is recorded at frequency rank #56, classified as adet, pronounced /ðɛə/. theirs is at rank #7,623, tagged as apron, pronounced /ðɛəz/.
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 7679, this pair ranks #506,065 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of their vs theirs
Shared letters: ehirt. Private to "their": -. Private to "theirs": s.
"their" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "theirs" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "their" and "theirs" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "their" or "theirs"?
Remembering their vs theirs
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “their”; for a pronoun, it's “theirs”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “their” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable