Which to use
“their” and “these” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #56
- “their” frequency rank
- #94
- “these” frequency rank
- 150
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | their | these |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural). | plural of this |
Where the eye mixes their and these
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. their (/ðɛə/) and these (/ðiːz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
their is recorded at frequency rank #56, classified as adet, pronounced /ðɛə/. these is at rank #94, tagged as adet, pronounced /ðiːz/.
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 150, this pair ranks #529,809 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of their vs these
Shared letters: eht. Private to "their": ir. Private to "these": s.
"their" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "these" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV