Which to use
“that” is a conjunction and “this” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,506
- “that” frequency rank
- #5,196
- “this” frequency rank
- 10702
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | that | this |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que. | Ce … -ci, cette … -ci. |
Where the eye mixes that and this
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between that and this
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: that is \ðət\ while this is \ðɪs\. 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 (conjunction vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
that is recorded at frequency rank #5,506, classified as aconj, pronounced \ðət\. this is at rank #5,196, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ðɪs\.
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 10702, this pair ranks #411,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of that vs this
Shared letters: ht. Private to "that": a. Private to "this": is.
"that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "this" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "that" for "this" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "that" or "this" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "that" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "this" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #411,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "that" and "this" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "this vs tif". 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 #411,961 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.