iffvsinfoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: iff is a conjunction, info is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“iff” is a conjunction and “info” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,443
“iff” frequency rank
#2,489
“info” frequency rank
47932
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature iff info
Definition Abbreviation of if and only if. information.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set iff and info apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
iff
4 ch
info

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: iff is /ɪf ən(d)ˈəʊn.li ɪf/ while info is /ˈɪnfəʊ/. 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 (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

iff is recorded at frequency rank #45,443, classified as aconj, pronounced /ɪf ən(d)ˈəʊn.li ɪf/. info is at rank #2,489, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪnfəʊ/.

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 47932, this pair ranks #197,835 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of iff vs info

Shared letters: fi. Private to "iff": -. Private to "info": no.

"iff" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "info" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • infoifno · inffo · innfo · inof · nifo

Frequency comparison

iff#45,443
info#2,489

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "iff" and "info" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "iff" is a conjunction and "info" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "iff" or "info"?
"info" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,489 in our English list, against #45,443 for "iff". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering iff vs info

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list