then vs they, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“then” is an adverb and “they” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#91
“then” frequency rank: #35
“they” frequency rank: 126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	then	they
Definition	At that time.	A group of entities previously mentioned.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

then

4 ch

they

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: then is /ðɛn/ while they is /ˈðeɪ̯/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “then” becomes y in “they”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

then is recorded at frequency rank #91, classified as anadv, pronounced /ðɛn/. they is at rank #35, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈðeɪ̯/.

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 126, this pair ranks #529,845 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of then vs they

Shared letters: eht. Private to "then": n. Private to "they": y.

"then" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "they" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

then ← hten · tehn · thenn · thhen · thne · tthen
they ← htey · tehy · theyy · thhey · thye · tthey

Frequency comparison

then#91

they#35

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "then" and "they" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "then" is an adverb and "they" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "then" or "they"?

"they" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35 in our English list, against #91 for "then". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering then vs they

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “then”; for a pronoun, it's “they”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “then” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable