ilvsiraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,175
“il” frequency rank
#3,854
“ira” frequency rank
11029
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature il ira
Definition Año. Enfado o enojo.

Where the eye mixes il and ira

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

2 ch
il
3 ch
ira

Why the eye confuses il with ira

A purely visual mix-up. il ([ˈil]) and ira ([ˈiɾa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11029, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

il is recorded at frequency rank #7,175, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈil]. ira is at rank #3,854, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈiɾa].

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 11029, this pair ranks #296,513 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of il vs ira

Shared letters: i. Private to "il": l. Private to "ira": ar.

"il" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "il" and "ira" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈil] versus [ˈiɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "il" or "ira" show up more?
"ira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,854 in our Spanish list, against #7,175 for "il". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "il" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #296,513 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "il" and "ira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "il vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #296,513 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