Which to use
“they” is a pronoun and “they'd” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35
- “they” frequency rank
- #3,729
- “they'd” frequency rank
- 3764
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | they | they'd |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A group of entities previously mentioned. | They had. |
Where the eye mixes they and they'd
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. they runs 4 letters (CCVV) against they'd's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between they and they'd
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: they is /ˈðeɪ̯/ while they'd is /ðeɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “they” sits inside “they'd”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
they is recorded at frequency rank #35, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈðeɪ̯/. they'd is at rank #3,729, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ðeɪd/.
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 3764, this pair ranks #521,074 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of they vs they'd
Shared letters: ehty. Private to "they": -. Private to "they'd": d.
"they" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "they'd" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- they ← htey · tehy · theyy · thhey · thye · tthey
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "they" for "they'd" ever safe?
Frequency check: "they" vs "they'd" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "they" and "they'd" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "they" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "they'd" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,074 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "they" and "they'd" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "they vs Thun". 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 #521,074 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.