Which to use
“their” is an adjective and “these” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,269
- “their” frequency rank
- #26,643
- “these” frequency rank
- 45912
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | their | these |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Su, sus (de ellos o de ellas, o de una persona cuando no se conoce su sexo). | Estos, estas, plural de this. |
Where the eye mixes their and these
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses their with these
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: their is /ðɛə(ɹ)/ while these is /ðiːz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
their is recorded at frequency rank #19,269, classified as anadj, pronounced /ðɛə(ɹ)/. these is at rank #26,643, tagged as apron, pronounced /ðiːz/.
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 45912, this pair ranks #128,758 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of their vs these
Shared letters: eht. Private to "their": ir. Private to "these": s.
"their" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "these" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "their" for "these" ever safe?
Which is more common, "their" or "these"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "their" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "these" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #128,758 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "their" and "these" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teje vs these". 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 #128,758 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.