Which to use
“illa” and “isla” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,407
- “illa” frequency rank
- #939
- “isla” frequency rank
- 42346
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | illa | isla |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Isla. | Territorio rodeado completamente por agua. |
Where the eye mixes illa and isla
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between illa and isla
A purely visual mix-up. illa ([ˈi.ʎə]) and isla ([ˈisla]) 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 a single letter - l in “illa” becomes s in “isla”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42346, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
illa is recorded at frequency rank #41,407, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈi.ʎə]. isla is at rank #939, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈisla].
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 42346, this pair ranks #148,736 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of illa vs isla
Shared letters: ail. Private to "illa": -. Private to "isla": s.
"illa" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "isla" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "illa" and "isla" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "illa" or "isla"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "illa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "isla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #148,736 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "illa" and "isla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "illa vs iza". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #148,736 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.