Alanna Madden
June 8, 2020
Grammar Tips
Thru is the informal American spelling of the word through. Both versions are adjectives, prepositions, or adverbs that describe how something is located, connected, completing, or moving through space or time.
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Have you ever received a text message where someone wrote “thru” instead of “through”? If so, you may have wondered if “thru” is the same thing as “through,” or if “thru” a misspelling or abbreviation.
When it comes to the differences between thru and through, the answers are simple:
The word through is a preposition, adverb, and adjective that generally describes the placement or direction of something. For American English, thru is the alternate form of through, and it’s written for informal contexts, such as text messages, social media, or signage.
We use the prepositional form of through to describe:
1. How something moves from one side of a location to another or “into and out of” something. For example,
“We drove through the state of New York.”
“I walked through the Empire State Building.”
2. How something continues over time to completion.
“We sat through the entire movie.”
“We lived through the pandemic.”
3. How something inspects or observes the entirety of something.
“Grammarians like to read through Merriam Webster’s Dictionary.”
“We read through your research paper.”
“I can see through the curtain.”
4. How something proceeds with a process or how something occurs as a result.
“I ordered my desk through Amazon.”
“He finds support through his family.”
“I opened a business through savings and determination.”
5. How something leads or continues up to a certain point in a sequence.
“We accept applications from January 12 through May 13.”
6. How something entered an opening or pushed through a solid surface.
“They ran through the tunnels.”
“She drove through five traffic signs before the police stopped her.”
“The light shines through the window.”
7. How something is positioned in several places in an area.
“There are several animal species that live through the valley.”
Across, along, amid, between, by means of, during, midst, throughout, via.
The adverb form of through shares a definition with the propositional form. In this case, we can use the adverb version to describe:
The one exception occurs when the adverb through describes a connection by phone. For example,
“Can you place a call through to the Queen?”
“We can connect you through to the White House.”
Around, continuously, constantly, over, throughout.
As an adjective, we use the word through to convey completion, a direct route, or an uninterrupted path or journey to a destination. For example,
“I am through with the relationship.”
“There’s a through road from Portland that leads to the coast.”
“It’s a through ticket, so you don’t need a new boarding pass for the next layover.”
Complete, concluded, done, ended, over, terminated.
Continuing, incomplete, ongoing, undone, unfinished.
The preposition and adverb form of through entered the English Language via Old English “thurh.” The same word is connected to Proto-Germanic thurx, which is from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root ‘tere-’ for “to cross over,” “overcome,” or “pass-through.”
While the word “thurh” didn’t change to “through” until around 1300, it’s unclear when American English began spelling “through” as “thru.” The Online Etymology Dictionary reports the term’s initial appearances around 1839 via Scottish or Yankee dialects. However, Google Books’ Ngram Viewer reports usage within English literature as early as 1579.
Although dictionaries recognize thru as an alternate spelling of through, it’s best to avoid using it for formal situations. There are times, however, when thru is a common alternative. For example, many Americans write “thru” instead of “through” when describing a fast food restaurant’s drive-thru or a drive-thru medical service.
Additional examples of thru for informal writing include:
The word through is the preferred spelling to use for informal or formal writing. The most common ways to use through in American or British English include:
The best way to remember the difference between through and thru is through a simple mnemonic. Since the word “through” is the official spelling, allow the letter o to stand for “official.” “Thru,” the informal spelling of through, only contains the letter u for “unofficial.”
Through = O = official spelling
Thru = U = unofficial spelling
The shorthand use of thru over through is an American writing quirk, as sources note how thru is relatively uncommon or accepted for British English. Whether you’re in the United Kingdom or the United States, the preferred spelling is through.
By definition, a homophone is a set of words that have the same pronunciation but have different spelling and meanings. The words thru and through have the same meaning and definition, but they don’t share spelling.
Therefore, thru and through are not homophones–– they are simply two versions of the same word.
Through does have one homophone, however. The word threw is the past tense of the verb throw, and this term shares the same pronunciation as through, as well. The commonly confused words are homophones because they have separate definitions and spellings.
Additional examples of homophones include:
Think you’re ready to put your grammar skills to the test? See how much you’ve learned about thru vs through with the following multiple-choice questions.
Answers
