Which to use
“them” and “these” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,214
- “them” frequency rank
- #26,643
- “these” frequency rank
- 48857
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | them | these |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Los, las. | Estos, estas, plural de this. |
Where the eye mixes them and these
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: them vs these
A purely visual mix-up. them (/ðɛm/) and these (/ðiːz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48857, 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/. 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 48857, this pair ranks #112,121 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of them vs these
Shared letters: eht. Private to "them": m. Private to "these": s.
"them" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "these" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "them" and "these" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "them" or "these"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "them" and "these" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "them" 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 #112,121 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "them" 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 #112,121 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.