tho
/ðoʊ/adverb, conjunction
tho is spelled T-H-O: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,558th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, tho means “Then; thereupon” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tho?
| Letters | 3: T-H-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 26 times per million words; the 3,558th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tho?
Tho appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,558th 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 tho?
- UK /ðəʊ/
- US /ðoʊ/
- /ðə/
Tho 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tho.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tho?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tho from its last stressed vowel (/oʊ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: hot, toh.
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).
What does tho mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
Then; thereupon.
conjunction
- 1
When.
noun
- 1
Initialism of tritiated water (“³H-¹H-O, tritium-protium water”)
article
- 1
obsoleteThe (plural form); those.
pronoun
- 1
obsoleteThose; they.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does tho come from?
From Middle English tho, tha, from Old English þā (“then, when”), from Proto-Germanic *þa- (“that”), from Proto-Indo-European *to-, *só (“that”). See also German da (“then, thereupon”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).