Which to use
“their” is a determiner and “them” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,023
- “their” frequency rank
- #19,418
- “them” frequency rank
- 35441
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | their | them |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Leur, leurs. | Dire. |
Where the eye mixes their and them
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: their vs them
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: their is \ðɛə(ɹ)\ while them is \θem\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
their is recorded at frequency rank #16,023, classified as adet, pronounced \ðɛə(ɹ)\. them is at rank #19,418, tagged as averb, pronounced \θem\.
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 35441, this pair ranks #276,748 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of their vs them
Shared letters: eht. Private to "their": ir. Private to "them": m.
"their" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "them" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "their" and "them" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "their" or "them"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "their" and "them" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "their" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "them" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,748 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "their" and "them" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "them vs thug". 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 #276,748 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.