Which to use
“ilk” is an adjective and “its” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,443
- “ilk” frequency rank
- #75
- “its” frequency rank
- 32518
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ilk | its |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Very; same. | Belonging to it. |
Where the eye mixes ilk and its
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ilk with its
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ilk is /ɪlk/ while its 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 (adjective vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ilk is recorded at frequency rank #32,443, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪlk/. its is at rank #75, tagged as adet, 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 32518, this pair ranks #337,124 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ilk vs its
Shared letters: i. Private to "ilk": kl. Private to "its": st.
"ilk" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "its" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ilk" and "its" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ilk" vs "its" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ilk" and "its" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ilk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "its" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,124 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ilk" and "its" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ilan vs ilk". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #337,124 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.