Which to use
“this” is a determiner and “tries” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15
- “this” frequency rank
- #2,868
- “tries” frequency rank
- 2883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | this | tries |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The (thing) here (used in indicating something or someone nearby). | plural of try |
Where the eye mixes this and tries
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: this is /ðɪs/ while tries is /tɹaɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
this is recorded at frequency rank #15, classified as adet, pronounced /ðɪs/. tries is at rank #2,868, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɹaɪz/.
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 2883, this pair ranks #523,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of this vs tries
Shared letters: ist. Private to "this": h. Private to "tries": er.
"this" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "tries" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC