incvsisWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,760
“inc” frequency rank
#8
“is” frequency rank
1768
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inc is
Definition Abbreviation of increase. third-person singular simple present indicative of be

Letter map: inc vs is

Shared letters muted; letters that set inc and is apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
inc
2 ch
is

Spelling & dictionary notes on inc vs is

inc and is 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inc is recorded at frequency rank #1,760, classified as averb. is is at rank #8, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪz/.

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 1768, this pair ranks #526,709 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of inc vs is

Shared letters: i. Private to "inc": cn. Private to "is": s.

"inc" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "is" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "inc" and "is" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "inc" or "is" show up more?
"is" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8 in our English list, against #1,760 for "inc". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pair "inc" vs "is" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "inc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "is" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #526,709 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inc" and "is" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inc vs ith". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #526,709 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