then vs turn, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#18,204
“then” frequency rank: #14,985
“turn” frequency rank: 33189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	then	turn
Definition	então, aí. daí	embrulhar

Letter map: then vs turn

Shared letters muted; letters that set then and turn apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch

then

4 ch

turn

Grammar separator: then vs turn

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: then is anadverb and turnaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33189, 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/. turn is at rank #14,985, tagged as averb.

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 33189, this pair ranks #34,389 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of then vs turn

Shared letters: nt. Private to "then": eh. Private to "turn": ru.

"then" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "turn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

then ← hten · tehn · thenn · thhen · thne · tthen
turn ← trun · tturn · tunr · turnn · turrn · utrn

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "then" or "turn" show up more?

"turn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,985 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.

Useful next steps

Pair "then" vs "turn" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "then" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "turn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #34,389 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"then" and "turn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tufo vs turn". 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 #34,389 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.