Which to use
“theirs” is a pronoun and “thirst” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,623
- “theirs” frequency rank
- #12,343
- “thirst” frequency rank
- 19966
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | theirs | thirst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That or those belonging to them; the possessive case of they, used without a following noun. | A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (such as fear, excitement, etc.) which stops the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set theirs and thirst 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: theirs is /ðɛəz/ while thirst is /θɜːst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
theirs is recorded at frequency rank #7,623, classified as apron, pronounced /ðɛəz/. thirst is at rank #12,343, tagged as anoun, pronounced /θɜːst/.
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 19966, this pair ranks #434,452 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of theirs vs thirst
Shared letters: hirst. Private to "theirs": e. Private to "thirst": -.
"theirs" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "thirst" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "theirs" and "thirst" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "theirs" or "thirst"?
Remembering theirs vs thirst
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “theirs”; for a noun, it's “thirst”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “theirs” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable