ilovsisiWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,641
“ilo” frequency rank
#39,822
“isi” frequency rank
83463
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ilo isi
Definition Herramienta El extranjero, tierra o país de donde uno no es.

Where the eye mixes ilo and isi

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

3 ch
ilo
3 ch
isi

Why the eye confuses ilo with isi

A purely visual mix-up. ilo (/ˈilo/) and isi (/ì.sí/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83463, 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/. isi is at rank #39,822, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ì.sí/.

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 83463, this pair ranks #8,112 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ilo vs isi

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

"ilo" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "isi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ilo" and "isi" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈilo/ versus /ì.sí/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ilo" vs "isi" - which ranks higher?
"isi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,822 in our Spanish list, against #43,641 for "ilo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "isi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,112 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ilo" and "isi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ilo vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #8,112 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