Which to use
“the” is an article and “their” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #314
- “the” frequency rank
- #19,269
- “their” frequency rank
- 19583
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | the | their |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | El, la, los, las. | Su, sus (de ellos o de ellas, o de una persona cuando no se conoce su sexo). |
Where the eye mixes the and their
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between the and their
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: the is /ˈðiː/ while their is /ðɛə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “the” sits inside “their”, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19583, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
the is recorded at frequency rank #314, classified as anarticle, pronounced /ˈðiː/. their is at rank #19,269, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ðɛə(ɹ)/.
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 19583, this pair ranks #263,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of the vs their
Shared letters: eht. Private to "the": -. Private to "their": ir.
"the" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "their" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- their ← hteir · tehir · theirr · theri · thheir · thier · ttheir
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "the" for "their" ever safe?
Frequency check: "the" vs "their" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "the" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "their" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "the" and "their" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "their vs theme". 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 #263,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.