theories vs theres, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“theories” is a noun and “theres” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,989
“theories” frequency rank: #8,365
“theres” frequency rank: 13354
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	theories	theres
Definition	plural of theory	There is; there's.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set theories and theres apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

theories

6 ch

theres

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: theories is anoun and theresacontraction. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

theories is recorded at frequency rank #4,989, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈθɪəɹiz/. theres is at rank #8,365, tagged as acontraction.

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 13354, this pair ranks #476,302 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of theories vs theres

Shared letters: ehrst. Private to "theories": io. Private to "theres": -.

"theories" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVVC · "theres" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

theories ← hteories · tehories · theoires · theoreis · theoriess · theorise · theorries · theroies
theres ← hteres · tehres · theers · theress · therres · therse · thheres · ttheres

Frequency comparison

theories#4,989

theres#8,365

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "theories" and "theres" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "theories" is a noun and "theres" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "theories" or "theres"?

"theories" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,989 in our English list, against #8,365 for "theres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering theories vs theres

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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