ICC vs is, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ICC” is a name and “is” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,257
“ICC” frequency rank: #8
“is” frequency rank: 12265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ICC	is
Definition	Initialism of International Criminal Court.	third-person singular simple present indicative of be

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ICC and is apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

ICC

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ICC is /ˈʔajsisi/ while is is /ɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ICC is recorded at frequency rank #12,257, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈʔajsisi/. is is at rank #8, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪz/.

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 12265, this pair ranks #482,529 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ICC vs is

Shared letters: i. Private to "ICC": c. Private to "is": s.

"ICC" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "is" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequency comparison

ICC#12,257

is#8

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ICC" and "is" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "ICC" or "is"?

"is" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8 in our English list, against #12,257 for "ICC". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ICC vs is

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “ICC”; for a verb, it's “is”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ICC” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable