Which to use
“thirteen” is a num and “thirties” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,494
- “thirteen” frequency rank
- #21,384
- “thirties” frequency rank
- 29878
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thirteen | thirties |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The cardinal number occurring after twelve and before fourteen: ten and three. | The fourth decade of a century: the 1830s, 1930s, 2030s, etc. |
Letter map: thirteen vs thirties
Shared letters muted; letters that set thirteen and thirties apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. thirteen and thirties follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Grammar separator: thirteen vs thirties
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: thirteen is anum and thirtiesanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thirteen is recorded at frequency rank #8,494, classified as anum, pronounced /ˌθɜːˈtiːn/. thirties is at rank #21,384, 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 29878, this pair ranks #359,277 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of thirteen vs thirties
Shared letters: ehirt. Private to "thirteen": n. Private to "thirties": s.
"thirteen" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVVC · "thirties" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "thirteen" and "thirties" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "thirteen" or "thirties"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "thirteen" and "thirties".
- Full dictionary entry for "thirteen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thirties" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,277 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thirteen" and "thirties" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thirteen vs thirteenth". 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 #359,277 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.