this
/ðɪs/determiner, adverb, pronoun, noun, interjection
this is spelled T-H-I-S. The wrong spelling people search most is htis: about 40 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 323 of all searches for the word. This is a determiner meaning “The (thing) here (used in indicating something or someone nearby)”.
How many letters and syllables are in this?
| Letters | 4: T-H-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6,607 times per million words; the 16th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 5; the most searched, htis, about 40 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell this?
This is spelled T-H-I-S. 5 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 86 of the searches for this in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is this?
This appears 6,607 times per million words in written English, the 16th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce this?
- /ðɪs/
- /ðəs/
This has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: This-prounciation-audio-nonlabial.ogg, En-us-this.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-this.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with this
Also written: dis, this and that and the other, this, that, and the other thing, this, that, or the other, ts.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with this?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as this.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: hits, sith, hist, tish.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of this
- these plural
- thises plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does this mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
determiner
- 1
The (thing) here (used in indicating something or someone nearby).
This classroom is where I learned to read and write.
- 2
colloquialReferring to oneself.
- 3
The known (thing) (used in indicating something or someone just mentioned).
They give the appearance of knowing what they're doing. It's this appearance that lets them get away with so much.
- 4
The known (thing) (used in indicating something or someone about to be mentioned).
When asked what he wanted for his birthday, he gave this reply: “[…]”
- 5
informalA known (thing) (used in first mentioning a person or thing that the speaker does not think is known to the audience). Compare with “a certain ...”.
I met this woman the other day who's allergic to wheat. I didn't even know that was possible!
- 6
Designates the current or next instance.
It's cold this morning.
adverb
- 1
To the degree or extent indicated.
I need this much water.
pronoun
- 1
The thing, item, etc. being indicated.
This isn't the item that I ordered.
noun
- 1
Something being indicated that is here; one of these.
interjection
- 1
Indicates the speaker's strong approval or agreement with the previous material.
― I wish trolls could be banned from the forum immediately, without any discussion. ― This!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
This in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ce, cette, ce ... ci, cette ... ci , comme ça , ceci |
| German | dieser , so , diese, dieses , folgend , so ein |
| Portuguese | este, esta, isto, estes, estas , tão |
| Spanish | este, aqueste, esta, aquesta , tanto , esto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does this come from?
From Middle English þis, this, from Old English þis (neuter demonstrative), from the North Sea Germanic base *þa- (“that”), from Proto-Germanic *þat, from Proto-Indo-European *tód, extended form of demonstrative base *to-; + North-West Germanic definitive suffix *-s, from Proto-Indo-European *só (“this, that”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).