isivsizaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,822
“isi” frequency rank
#49,092
“iza” frequency rank
88914
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature isi iza
Definition El extranjero, tierra o país de donde uno no es. Acción o efecto de izar.

Where the eye mixes isi and iza

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. isi and iza follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
isi
3 ch
iza

Why the eye confuses isi with iza

A purely visual mix-up. isi (/ì.sí/) and iza ([ˈisa]) 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 88914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

isi is recorded at frequency rank #39,822, classified as anoun, pronounced /ì.sí/. iza is at rank #49,092, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈisa].

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 88914, this pair ranks #3,469 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of isi vs iza

Shared letters: i. Private to "isi": s. Private to "iza": az.

"isi" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "iza" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "isi" for "iza" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ì.sí/ versus [ˈisa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "isi" vs "iza" - which ranks higher?
"isi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,822 in our Spanish list, against #49,092 for "iza". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "isi" and "iza" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "isi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "iza" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,469 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "isi" and "iza" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imam vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #3,469 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