they've
/ðeɪv/
"they-ve" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“they've” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,803. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,803
- frequency rank, English
- 27,828
- “T” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - they have
Corpus desk
Index EN-they-ve · they've · English
they've · rank #1,803 · 10 variants · 3 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,803
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 27,828
- PHOTO-FINISH stick
Nearest frequency peer: stick (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “they've”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- owned
owned
98,201 corpus weight
- request
request
98,200 corpus weight
- stick
stick
98,199 corpus weight
- they've
they've
98,198 corpus weight
- turns
turns
98,197 corpus weight
- vehicle
vehicle
98,196 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “they've” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | they've |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Contraction |
| IPA | /ðeɪv/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #1,803 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “they've” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around they've (IPA /ðeɪv/), acontraction. Corpus frequency is #1,803 among 27,828 “T” headwords. Dominant gloss: "they have".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for they've, with forms such as "htey've", "tehy've", and "the'yve". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "they'd", "they're", "they'll", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is they've, spelled T-H-E-Y-'-V-E.
Definition
- 1they have
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how they've appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"That's because we recognise these towns do have a significant population who need to travel, and they've been kind of missed out."
China and the United States are closer than they’ve ever been to a war over Taiwan.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- htey've
- tehy've
- the'yve
- they'ev
- they'vve
- theyv'e
- theyy've
- thhey've
- thye've
- tthey've
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of they've - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "they've"?
What does "they've" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "they've"?
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What language does "they've" come from?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "they've", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.