ilevsinnWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“ile” and “inn” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,534
“ile” frequency rank
#6,369
“inn” frequency rank
40903
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ile inn
Definition Alternative form of ail (“awn”). Any establishment where travellers can procure lodging, food, and drink.

Where the eye mixes ile and inn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ile
3 ch
inn

Visual trap between ile and inn

A purely visual mix-up. ile (/aɪl/) and inn (/ɪn/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40903, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ile is recorded at frequency rank #34,534, classified as anoun, pronounced /aɪl/. inn is at rank #6,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪn/.

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 40903, this pair ranks #263,362 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ile vs inn

Shared letters: i. Private to "ile": el. Private to "inn": n.

"ile" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "inn" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ile" and "inn" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/aɪl/ versus /ɪn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ile" vs "inn" - which ranks higher?
"inn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,369 in our English list, against #34,534 for "ile". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "inn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #263,362 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ile" and "inn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ilan vs ile". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #263,362 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list