Which to use
“there” is an adverb and “three” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,702
- “there” frequency rank
- #19,176
- “three” frequency rank
- 32878
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | there | three |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Là, là-bas, y. | (radiotéléphonie) Mot de code radiotéléphonique de l'OACI, OTAN et SIA pour le chiffre 3. |
Where the eye mixes there and three
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses there with three
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: there is \ðɛɚ\ while three is \ˈtri\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (er ↔ re) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
there is recorded at frequency rank #13,702, classified as anadv, pronounced \ðɛɚ\. three is at rank #19,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈtri\.
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 32878, this pair ranks #294,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of there vs three
Shared letters: ehrt. Private to "there": -. Private to "three": -.
"there" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "three" · 5 letters · shape CCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "there" and "three" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "there" or "three"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "there" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "three" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "there" and "three" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taxée vs three". 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 #294,346 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.