Which to use
“they” is a pronoun and “this” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35
- “they” frequency rank
- #15
- “this” frequency rank
- 50
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | they | this |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A group of entities previously mentioned. | The (thing) here (used in indicating something or someone nearby). |
Where the eye mixes they and this
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: they is /ˈðeɪ̯/ while this is /ðɪs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
they is recorded at frequency rank #35, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈðeɪ̯/. this is at rank #15, tagged as adet, pronounced /ðɪs/.
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 50, this pair ranks #529,957 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of they vs this
Shared letters: ht. Private to "they": ey. Private to "this": is.
"they" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "this" · 4 letters · shape CCVC