thesevstseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: these is a determiner, tse is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“these” is a determiner and “tse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#94
“these” frequency rank
#32,219
“tse” frequency rank
32313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature these tse
Definition plural of this The letter Ц, ц.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
these
3 ch
tse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: these is adeterminer and tseanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

these is recorded at frequency rank #94, classified as adet, pronounced /ðiːz/. tse is at rank #32,219, 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 32313, this pair ranks #338,836 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of these vs tse

Shared letters: est. Private to "these": h. Private to "tse": -.

"these" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "tse" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • thesehtese · tehse · thees · thesse · thhese · thsee · tthese

Frequency comparison

these#94
tse#32,219

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "these" and "tse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "these" is a determiner and "tse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "these" or "tse"?
"these" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #94 in our English list, against #32,219 for "tse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering these vs tse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list