Which to use
“them” is a pronoun and “theme” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,214
- “them” frequency rank
- #43,891
- “theme” frequency rank
- 66105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | them | theme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Los, las. | Tema₁. |
Where the eye mixes them and theme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses them with theme
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: them is /ðɛm/ while theme is /θiːm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “them” sits inside “theme”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
them is recorded at frequency rank #22,214, classified as apron, pronounced /ðɛm/. theme is at rank #43,891, tagged as anoun, pronounced /θiːm/.
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 66105, this pair ranks #40,765 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of them vs theme
Shared letters: ehmt. Private to "them": -. Private to "theme": -.
"them" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "theme" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "them" and "theme" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "them" or "theme"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "them" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "theme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,765 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "them" and "theme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tem 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 #40,765 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.