then vs thou, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“then” is an adverb and “thou” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,392
“then” frequency rank: #44,777
“thou” frequency rank: 68169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	then	thou
Definition	(Adverbe conjonctif) Alors, dans ce cas, par conséquence.	Écluse en pierre ou en béton permettant de vider lentement les étangs de la Dombes dans l'Ain.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set then and thou apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

then

4 ch

thou

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: then is \ˈðɛn\ while thou is \tu\. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

then is recorded at frequency rank #23,392, classified as anadv, pronounced \ˈðɛn\. thou is at rank #44,777, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tu\.

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 68169, this pair ranks #60,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of then vs thou

Shared letters: ht. Private to "then": en. Private to "thou": ou.

"then" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "thou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

then ← hten · tehn · thenn · thhen · thne · tthen
thou ← htou · thhou · thuo · tohu · tthou

Frequency comparison

then#23,392

thou#44,777

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "then" and "thou" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "then" is an adverb and "thou" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "then" or "thou"?

"then" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,392 in our French list, against #44,777 for "thou". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering then vs thou

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “then”; for a noun, it's “thou”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “then” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable