Which to use
“ies” and “items” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,988
- “ies” frequency rank
- #1,726
- “items” frequency rank
- 47714
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ies | items |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of i, the name of the letter I. | plural of item |
Letter map: ies vs items
Shared letters muted; letters that set ies and items apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Pair insight - ies / items
ies and items are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ies is recorded at frequency rank #45,988, classified as anoun. items is at rank #1,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪ.təmz/.
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 47714, this pair ranks #199,865 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ies vs items
Shared letters: eis. Private to "ies": -. Private to "items": mt.
"ies" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "items" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- items ← ietms · itemms · itemss · itesm · ittems
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ies" for "items" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "ies" or "items" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ies" and "items".
- Full dictionary entry for "ies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "items" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #199,865 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ies" and "items" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ies vs ith". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #199,865 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.