Which to use
“that” is a conjunction and “they” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,648
- “that” frequency rank
- #11,171
- “they” frequency rank
- 14819
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | that | they |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que | pronome pessoal de terceira pessoa plural referente a um grupo de pessoas sem especificação de gênero; eles ou elas |
Letter map: that vs they
Shared letters muted; letters that set that and they apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - that and they
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: that is aconjunction and theyapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14819, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
that is recorded at frequency rank #3,648, classified as aconj, pronounced /ðæt/. they is at rank #11,171, tagged as apron.
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 14819, this pair ranks #57,171 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of that vs they
Shared letters: ht. Private to "that": a. Private to "they": ey.
"that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "they" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "that" and "they" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "that" or "they" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "that" and "they".
- Full dictionary entry for "that" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "they" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #57,171 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "that" and "they" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teem vs they". 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 #57,171 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.