ir

[ˈiɾ]

/[ˈiɾ]/ verb

The verdict

“ir” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #186) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#186
frequency rank, Spanish
3,428
“I” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Desplazarse de un lugar a otro.

Corpus desk

Index ES-ir · ir · Spanish

ir · rank #186 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #186
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,428
  • PHOTO-FINISH entonces

Nearest frequency peer: entonces (-1 rank slots)

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.

Vecinos de frecuencia del confusable “ir”

Pares de peso similar en el corpus, aparte de los confusables abajo

corpus weight

What this shows Las barras sitúan “ir” frente a los lemas españoles más cercanos por rango, no un reprint del escritorio de confusables.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ir vs is
50% similar
ir vs it
50% similar
ir vs ix
50% similar

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

Key facts for ir
PropertyValue
Headwordir
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈiɾ]
Letters2
Frequency rank#186
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rango de corpus junto a confusables de “ir”

Esta escala corre desde el núcleo del español cotidiano (izquierda) hasta el rastro de formas rara vez usadas (derecha).ircae aquí:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

La escala es logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× más rara). En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “entonces” (#185), “tipo” (#187), “dijo” (#184). Entre 3,428 lemas con “I”, “ir” va en #186. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ir is neighbouring look-alikes ("is", "it", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced [ˈiɾ]. Frequency #186 among 3,428 “I” headwords. 12 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for ir in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable Spanish rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "is", "it", "ix", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Spanish form is ir, spelled I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Desplazarse de un lugar a otro.
  2. 2
    En particular, trasladarse hacia una posición más distante con respecto de quien habla.
  3. 3
    Por extensión, dicho de un camino, extenderse hasta un lugar más distante con respecto de quien habla.
  4. 4
    Por extensión, extenderse algo de un punto a otro en el espacio o el tiempo.
  5. 5
    Por extensión, distinguirse una cosa de otra.
  6. 6
    Ir₁ de un lugar a otro y volver al inicial repetidamente.
  7. 7
    Combinar o armonizar el aspecto o diseño de una cosa con otra.
  8. 8
    Desarrollar una acción cualquiera.
  9. 9
    Desempeñar correctamente un aparato la función para la que se está diseñado.
  10. 10
    Abocarse expresamente a ganar una mano de un juego.
  11. 11
    Desarrollarse una acción de manera continuada (con el gerundio del verbo que expresa aquella).
  12. 12
    Experimentar o haber experimentado una determinada acción o situación (con el participio del verbo que expresa aquella).

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Yendo, pues, caminando nuestro flamante aventurero, iba hablando consigo mesmo y diciendo.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ir"?
"ir" is spelled I-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈiɾ].
What does "ir" mean?
As a verb, "ir" means: Desplazarse de un lugar a otro.
What words are commonly confused with "ir"?
"ir" is commonly confused with "is", "it", "ix". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ir"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ir" is [ˈiɾ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ir" come from?
"ir" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list