Which to use
“things” is a noun and “ting” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #179
- “things” frequency rank
- #17,977
- “ting” frequency rank
- 18156
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | things | ting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of thing | Representing a high-pitched sharp sound like a small bell being struck. |
Where the eye mixes things and ting
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses things with ting
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: things is /ˈθɪŋz/ while ting is /tɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
things is recorded at frequency rank #179, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈθɪŋz/. ting is at rank #17,977, tagged as anintj, pronounced /tɪŋ/.
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 18156, this pair ranks #446,780 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of things vs ting
Shared letters: gint. Private to "things": hs. Private to "ting": -.
"things" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "ting" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "things" for "ting" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "things" or "ting" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "things" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ting" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #446,780 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "things" and "ting" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ting vs twang". 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 #446,780 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.