ESEN
Which one to use?Intermediatepreposition / adverbverb
ThroughvsThrew
'Through' means from one side to the other, or finished; 'threw' is the past tense of 'throw'.
Side-by-side comparison
Through
preposition / adverb"Through" is the preposition meaning from one side to the other. "Drive through the tunnel" = travel from one end of the tunnel to the other. Also "finished": "I'm through" = I am done.
She walked through the door without knocking.
The proposal went through three rounds of revisions.
I'm through with that project, the final version is submitted.
Threw
verb"Threw" is the past tense of "throw": someone launched something. "She threw the ball" = she sent the ball through the air. Pronounced the same as "through".
He threw the ball across the pitch to his teammate.
She threw the old documents into the recycling bin.
The sudden news threw the whole team into confusion.
Common mistake
- •"We drove threw the tunnel" when meaning from one side to the other is wrong (correct: through).
- •And "She through the ball" when meaning tossed it is wrong (correct: threw).
- •They are homophones: they sound exactly the same, the difference is purely in writing.
Trick to remember it
"Through" is long because you pass all the way from one side to the other. "Threw" is short because throwing is a quick action, you release and it is done. Also, "through" is a preposition/adjective; "threw" is only the simple past of "throw."
Quick rule
Is it the preposition for passing from one side to another, or meaning "finished"? "Through." Is it the past tense of the verb "throw"? "Threw."
Did you know?
The -OUGH combination in English has at least six different pronunciations, making it one of the most complex spelling patterns in the language: "through" (/uː/ as in "true"), "thought" (/ɔː/ as in "law"), "though" (/oʊ/ as in "go"), "tough" (/ʌf/ as in "puff"), "thorough" (/ʌ/ as in "about"), and "cough" (/ɒf/ as in "off"). This irregularity is not arbitrary: it reflects different eras when English spelling was fixed while pronunciation kept changing. Medieval English was spelled more phonetically; spelling conventions were largely fixed in the 15th and 16th centuries, and then pronunciation continued changing during the Great Vowel Shift without the spelling being updated to match.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
He walked _____ the park every morning on his way to work.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
She _____ the keys across the room and they landed on the sofa.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
AcceptvsExcept
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
AdvicevsAdvise
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
AffectvsEffect
'Affect' is the verb meaning to influence something; 'effect' is the noun meaning result or consequence.
AislevsIsle
'Aisle' is the walkway between rows of seats or shelves; 'isle' is a small island.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy