ilo vs is, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ilo” is a noun and “is” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,641
“ilo” frequency rank: #2,727
“is” frequency rank: 46368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ilo	is
Definition	Herramienta	Tercera persona del singular (he, she, it) del presente simple de be.

Where the eye mixes ilo and is

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

3 ch

ilo

2 ch

Look-alike desk: ilo vs is

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ilo is /ˈilo/ while is is /ɪz/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ilo is recorded at frequency rank #43,641, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈilo/. is is at rank #2,727, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪz/.

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 46368, this pair ranks #126,125 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ilo vs is

Shared letters: i. Private to "ilo": lo. Private to "is": s.

"ilo" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "is" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ilo" and "is" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ilo" is a noun and "is" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary Spanish text, does "ilo" or "is" show up more?

"is" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,727 in our Spanish list, against #43,641 for "ilo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

Full dictionary entry for "ilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "is" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #126,125 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ilo" and "is" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ilo vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #126,125 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.