there's vs threes, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“there's” is a contraction and “threes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#267
“there's” frequency rank: #28,401
“threes” frequency rank: 28668
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	there's	threes
Definition	Contraction of there is.	The age of three; three years old.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set there's and threes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

there's

6 ch

threes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: there's is acontraction and threesanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

there's is recorded at frequency rank #267, classified as acontraction, pronounced /ðəɹz/. threes is at rank #28,401, tagged as anoun.

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 28668, this pair ranks #369,270 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of there's vs threes

Shared letters: ehrst. Private to "there's": -. Private to "threes": -.

"there's" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "threes" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

threes ← htrees · thhrees · threess · thres · threse · thrrees · trhees · tthrees

Frequency comparison

there's#267

threes#28,401

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "there's" and "threes" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "there's" or "threes"?

"there's" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #267 in our English list, against #28,401 for "threes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering there's vs threes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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