is

Name: is, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ɪz/

//ɪz// verb

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“is” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8
frequency rank, English: 2,140
“I” headwords: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - third-person singular simple present indicative of be

Corpus desk

Index EN-is · is · English

is · rank #8 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-CORE #8
LEN-SHORT 2 letters
VOW-1 1 vowel
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-0 0 variants
BOOK-MID 2,140
PHOTO-FINISH i

Nearest frequency peer: i (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

A

99,996
in

99,995
i

99,994
is

99,993
for

99,992
that

99,991

What this shows Bars show where “is” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

is vs it

50% similar

is vs IV

0% similar

is vs iz

50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for is
Property	Value
Headword	is
Language	English
Part of speech	Verb
IPA	/ɪz/
Letters	2
Frequency rank	#8
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “is” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).islands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “i” (#7), “for” (#9), “in” (#6). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for is is neighbouring look-alikes ("it", "IV", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /ɪz/. Frequency #8 among 2,140 “I” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Zero misspellings are on record for is in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "it", "IV", "iz", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti Proto-Germanic *isti Proto-West Germanic *ist Old English is Middle English is English is From Middle English is, from Old English is, from Proto-West Germanic *ist, from Proto-Germanic *… The correct English form is is, spelled I-S.

Definition

1
third-person singular simple present indicative of be
2
Used in phrases with existential there (also here and where) when the semantic subject is plural.
3
present indicative of be; am, are, is.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how is appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

He is a doctor.
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti Proto-Germanic *isti Proto-West Germanic *ist Old English is Middle English is English is From Middle English is, from Old English is, from Proto-West Germanic *ist, from Proto-Germanic *isti (a form of Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“is”). Cognate with West Frisian is (“is”), Dutch is (“is”), German ist (“is”), Yiddish איז (iz, “is”), Afrikaans is (“am, are, is”) Old Swedish är, er, Old Norse er, es. Further cognates include, among others, Latin est, Ancient Greek ἐστί (estí), Sanskrit अस्ति (asti), Persian است (ast), Russian есть (jestʹ), all with the same meaning.

Synonyms

beeth bes

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "is"?

"is" is spelled I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪz/.

What does "is" mean?

As a verb, "is" means: third-person singular simple present indicative of be

What words are commonly confused with "is"?

"is" is commonly confused with "it", "IV", "iz". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "is"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "is" is /ɪz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "is"?

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

What to do next

You've looked up "is". Here's where to go from here.

"is" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "it". View pair
Usage frequency rank #8 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
Browse more English words in the "I" letter cohort. I–Z browse
PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.