ikevsirseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ike is a adjective, irse is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ike” is an adjective and “irse” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,873
“ike” frequency rank
#2,507
“irse” frequency rank
43380
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ike irse
Definition Malo. Alejarse de un lugar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ike and irse apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ike
4 ch
irse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ike is /ˈɪ.ke/ while irse is [ˈiɾse]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43380, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ike is recorded at frequency rank #40,873, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɪ.ke/. irse is at rank #2,507, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈiɾse].

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 43380, this pair ranks #142,965 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ike vs irse

Shared letters: ei. Private to "ike": k. Private to "irse": rs.

"ike" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "irse" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • irseirce · ires · irrse · irsse · isre

Frequency comparison

ike#40,873
irse#2,507

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ike" and "irse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ike" is an adjective and "irse" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ike" or "irse"?
"irse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,507 in our Spanish list, against #40,873 for "ike". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ike vs irse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ike”; for a verb, it's “irse”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ike” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list