then vs there, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“then” and “there” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,204
“then” frequency rank: #9,584
“there” frequency rank: 27788
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	then	there
Definition	então, aí. daí	aí, nesse local (perto do interlocutor):

Where the eye mixes then and there

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch

then

5 ch

there

Visual trap between then and there

A purely visual mix-up. then (/ˈðɛn/) and there (/ˈðɛɹ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

then is recorded at frequency rank #18,204, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈðɛn/. there is at rank #9,584, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈðɛɹ/.

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 27788, this pair ranks #41,140 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of then vs there

Shared letters: eht. Private to "then": n. Private to "there": r.

"then" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "there" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

then ← hten · tehn · thenn · thhen · thne · tthen
there ← htere · tehre · theer · therre · thhere · three · tthere

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "then" and "there" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They are said differently (/ˈðɛn/ versus /ˈðɛɹ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Frequency check: "then" vs "there" - which ranks higher?

"there" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,584 in our Portuguese list, against #18,204 for "then". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

Full dictionary entry for "then" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "there" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #41,140 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"then" and "there" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "then vs thorn". 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 #41,140 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.