Which to use
“thence” is an adverb and “these” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,627
- “thence” frequency rank
- #94
- “these” frequency rank
- 26721
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thence | these |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | From there, from that place or from that time. | plural of this |
Where the eye mixes thence and these
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. thence runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against these's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between thence and these
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thence is /ðɛns/ while these is /ðiːz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thence is recorded at frequency rank #26,627, classified as anadv, pronounced /ðɛns/. 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 26721, this pair ranks #384,548 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of thence vs these
Shared letters: eht. Private to "thence": cn. Private to "these": s.
"thence" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "these" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thence" for "these" ever safe?
Which is more common, "thence" or "these"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "thence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "these" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #384,548 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thence" and "these" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thence vs Thrace". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #384,548 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.