Which to use
“ill” is an adjective and “ilo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,059
- “ill” frequency rank
- #43,641
- “ilo” frequency rank
- 86700
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ill | ilo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enfermo. | Herramienta |
Where the eye mixes ill and ilo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ill (VCC) and ilo (VCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ill vs ilo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ill is /ɪl/ while ilo is /ˈilo/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “ill” becomes o in “ilo”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ill is recorded at frequency rank #43,059, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪl/. ilo is at rank #43,641, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈilo/.
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 86700, this pair ranks #5,081 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ill vs ilo
Shared letters: il. Private to "ill": -. Private to "ilo": o.
"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ilo" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ill" and "ilo" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ill" or "ilo"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ilo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,081 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ill" and "ilo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ilo vs iza". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #5,081 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.