ibisvsiciConfusable pair

Quick tell: ibis is a noun, ici is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ibis” is a noun and “ici” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,067
“ibis” frequency rank
#153
“ici” frequency rank
31220
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ibis ici
Definition Espèce d'oiseau échassier de la famille des threskiornithidés, au bec long, mince et recourbé. Il marque la proximité immédiate dans l’espace par rapport à soi.

Where the eye mixes ibis and ici

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ibis runs 4 letters (VCVC) against ici's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
ibis
3 ch
ici

Visual trap between ibis and ici

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ibis is \i.bis\ while ici is \i.si\. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ibis is recorded at frequency rank #31,067, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.bis\. ici is at rank #153, tagged as anadv, pronounced \i.si\.

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 31220, this pair ranks #305,175 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ibis vs ici

Shared letters: i. Private to "ibis": bs. Private to "ici": c.

"ibis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "ici" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ibis ← biis · ibbis · ibiss · ibsi · iibs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ibis" for "ici" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ibis" is a noun and "ici" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ibis" vs "ici" - which ranks higher?
"ici" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #153 in our French list, against #31,067 for "ibis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ibis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ici" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #305,175 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ibis" and "ici" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ibis vs isi". 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 #305,175 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list