Which to use
“tho” is an article and “though” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,588
- “tho” frequency rank
- #298
- “though” frequency rank
- 3886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tho | though |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The (plural form); those. | Despite that; however. |
Same sound, different letters: tho vs though
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Homophone desk: tho vs though
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: tho and though carry the same recorded pronunciation, /ðəʊ/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anarticle, the other anadverb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 3 extra letter(s) - “tho” sits inside “though”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tho is recorded at frequency rank #3,588, classified as anarticle, pronounced /ðəʊ/. though is at rank #298, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ðəʊ/.
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 3886, this pair ranks #520,668 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tho vs though
Shared letters: hot. Private to "tho": -. Private to "though": gu.
"tho" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "though" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- though ← htough · thhough · thoguh · thouggh · thoughh · thouhg · thuogh · tohugh
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tho" for "though" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "tho" or "though" show up more?
After this comparison
"tho" and "though" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "tho" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "though" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #520,668 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tho" and "though" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taf vs tho". 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 #520,668 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.