Theese or These: Which Is Correct?
The correct spelling is these — the plural of this — with a single e in the middle. Theese is not a standard English word at all: it appears in no major dictionary, and wherever it shows up in writing it is a misspelling of these. The error is almost always a pronunciation trap: these is pronounced /ðiːz/, with a long ee sound that invites writers — especially learners of English — to double the e. This article covers what the word actually is, why the trap works, and the family of demonstratives it belongs to.
Quick Answer
Always write these. It is the plural of this, working both as a pronoun (“These are my children”) and as a determiner (“these flowers are beautiful”). The pronunciation /ðiːz/ — rhyming with seize and please — explains why the double-e misspelling theese is so common, but spelling follows history, not sound: the word descends from Old English forms spelled with a single middle vowel, and every major dictionary lists only these. There is no word theese in standard English, and no context in which the double-e spelling is acceptable.
What “These” Is and How It Works
These belongs to the small, closed family of English demonstratives — the pointing words that locate things in space, time, or discourse. Its job is simple: it is the plural of this, marking more than one thing that is near the speaker, near in time, or just mentioned. It does two grammatical jobs. As a pronoun it stands alone: “These are my children”; “I don’t want those, I want these.” As a determiner (sometimes called a demonstrative adjective) it sits before a noun: “these shoes,” “these countries,” “these ideas.” The same word also does discourse work that beginners sometimes miss: it can point back to something already mentioned (“The union of these countries is based on solid ground”), introduce something in a story (“Then these guys came in and wanted to fight”), and refer to closeness in time (“these days,” “in these difficult times”).
The full family fits in a two-by-two grid worth memorising. Near the speaker: singular this, plural these. Far from the speaker: singular that, plural those. Note the vowel pattern — this/these share their vowel, that/those don’t — and note that none of the four has a doubled middle vowel. Learners who internalise the grid stop inventing spellings like theese because the word’s place in the pattern anchors it.
Why “Theese” Feels Right (But Isn’t)
English spelling is full of traps where sound and spelling diverge, and these is a textbook case. The word is pronounced /ðiːz/ — a long, tense ee sound followed by a voiced z. English has a strong orthographic habit of marking long ee with doubled e: see, free, cheese, please, seize (well, seize breaks it, but the habit stands). A writer sounding out the word hears a long vowel and writes the long-vowel spelling: theese. The mistake is phonetic logic applied to a word whose spelling was fixed centuries before the habit fully formed.
The history explains the fossil. The correct form descends from Old English plural pronouns — masculine thes and feminine theōs — spelled with a single middle vowel, and the modern spelling these preserves that single vowel through a thousand years of sound change. Pronunciation moved on (the vowel lengthened to /iː/); the spelling stayed put. This is the same reason these rhymes with please but doesn’t share its spelling pattern: sound is present-tense, spelling is archaeology.
There is a second, subtler contributor: the determiner–pronoun split. As a determiner before a noun, these is often pronounced slightly reduced, closer to /ðɪz/ in rapid speech (“give me these books”), while as a pronoun standing alone it keeps the full long vowel /ðiːz/ (“these are mine”). Writers who learn the word in its stressed pronoun role hear the long vowel most clearly and are the likeliest to double the e. The spelling, however, is identical in both jobs.
Correct vs. Incorrect
- ✓ “I love all these summer music festivals.” (determiner before a noun)
- ✓ “Can you pass me these documents, please?” (near the speaker)
- ✓ “The problems? I’ve solved these.” (pointing back to something mentioned)
- ✓ “In these difficult times, kindness matters.” (closeness in time)
- ✗ “I don’t understand theese instructions.” → ✓ “…these instructions.”
- ✗ “Theese are the ones I was talking about.” → ✓ “These are the ones…”
- ✗ “Look at theese examples on the board.” → ✓ “Look at these examples…”
- ✗ “Theese colors don’t match the rest.” → ✓ “These colors…”
- ✓ Remember the mnemonic: “These rhymes with please, not with pleese” — one e before the s, just as those has one o before its s.
Common Mistakes
1. Writing theese by ear. The commonest fault, and the whole subject of this article: the long /iː/ sound suggests a double e. English is not a phonetic spelling system, and these is one of its long-vowel fossils. When a spelling feels “obvious” from pronunciation, that is precisely when to check it.
2. Confusing these with those. The near/far distinction trips learners and hurried writers alike: these = near me (or near in the text), those = farther away. “Bring me those books” when the books are in your hand is the wrong demonstrative even when the spelling is right. Distance, not importance, chooses the word.
3. Using these with singular nouns. “These book is interesting” — agreement error, often from writers whose first language doesn’t mark number on demonstratives. This book, these books; that car, those cars. The demonstrative and the noun must agree in number.
4. Writing “thise” or “theise.” The same phonetic instinct that produces theese also produces thise and theise — all incorrect. There is exactly one correct form, these, and the family grid (this/these, that/those) leaves no room for improvisation.
5. Letting autocorrect or “helpful” tools introduce the error. Some keyboards and older spellcheckers, trained on noisy web text, have been known to suggest or accept theese. A tool that learned its spelling from the internet is reporting usage, not correctness. The dictionary is the authority; the keyboard is a witness.
The Demonstrative Family at a Glance
| Near | Far | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | this — “this book” | that — “that car” |
| plural | these — “these books” | those — “those cars” |
| Pronunciation | /ðɪs/ · /ðiːz/ | /ðæt/ · /ðəʊz/ (UK) /ðoʊz/ (US) |
| As pronoun | “This is mine.” / “These are mine.” | “That is yours.” / “Those are yours.” |
Note the asymmetry learners should simply memorise: the near pair shares its vowel (this/these), the far pair changes it (that/those). English demonstratives are a closed class — no new members are admitted — which means every invented form (theese, thise, theise, thoses) is wrong by definition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is “theese” ever correct?
No. There is no standard English word spelled theese, in no dialect, in no register, in no dictionary. It is always a misspelling of these. If you see it in print, you are looking at a typo — or at a writer who spelled by ear.
Why do so many people write “theese”?
Because the pronunciation /ðiːz/ has a long ee vowel, and English usually writes long ee with a double e (see, free, cheese). The spelling of these was fixed by its Old English ancestry long before that habit was reliable, so the ear misleads. It is the same mechanism behind definately (for definitely) and seperate (for separate): sound-logic applied to history-spelling.
Is “these” pronounced “theez” or “thiz”?
Both, depending on stress. Fully stressed — as a pronoun standing alone (“these are mine”) — it is /ðiːz/, “theez,” with the long vowel. Unstressed as a determiner in rapid speech (“pass me these books”), it often reduces toward /ðɪz/, “thiz.” The spelling never changes between the two. The reduced pronunciation is normal, not sloppy.
What’s the difference between “these” and “those”?
Distance — physical, temporal, or in the text. These points to things near the speaker or just mentioned (“these shoes on my feet”); those points farther away (“those shoes across the room”). In writing, these typically refers to what you just said and those to what came earlier or sits at a remove. The pair is this/these (near) against that/those (far).
Can “these” refer to ideas, not just objects?
Yes — demonstratives point at discourse as easily as at things. “These ideas are brilliant,” “these concepts need more work,” “these are the facts.” Abstract reference is one of the word’s commonest jobs in academic and professional writing.
The Takeaway
These — one e in the middle — is the only correct spelling of the plural of this, as pronoun, determiner, and discourse pointer. Theese is not a word; it is what happens when a long vowel meets a spelling system that doesn’t care about vowels. Learn the demonstrative grid (this/these, that/those), anchor the single-e spelling to it, and the error never returns.
