ibavsiceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“iba” and “ice” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#500
“iba” frequency rank
#14,863
“ice” frequency rank
15363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature iba ice
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ir o de irse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de izar.

Where the eye mixes iba and ice

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

3 ch
iba
3 ch
ice

Visual trap between iba and ice

A purely visual mix-up. iba ([ˈiβ̞a]) and ice ([ˈise]) 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 15363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

iba is recorded at frequency rank #500, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈiβ̞a]. ice is at rank #14,863, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈise].

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 15363, this pair ranks #280,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of iba vs ice

Shared letters: i. Private to "iba": ab. Private to "ice": ce.

"iba" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ice" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "iba" and "ice" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈiβ̞a] versus [ˈise]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "iba" or "ice" show up more?
"iba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #500 in our Spanish list, against #14,863 for "ice". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "iba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ice" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "iba" and "ice" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ice vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #280,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list