Which to use
“ices” is a noun and “it's” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,810
- “ices” frequency rank
- #55
- “it's” frequency rank
- 48865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ices | it's |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ice | Contraction of it + is. |
Where the eye mixes ices and it's
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ices is /ˈaɪsɪz/ while it's is /ɪts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ices is recorded at frequency rank #48,810, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪsɪz/. it's is at rank #55, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ɪts/.
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 48865, this pair ranks #189,060 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ices vs it's
Shared letters: is. Private to "ices": ce. Private to "it's": t.
"ices" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "it's" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ices ← cies · icces · icess · icse · iecs