Which to use
“ie” and “ink” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,068
- “ie” frequency rank
- #45,673
- “ink” frequency rank
- 52741
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ie | ink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Neuvième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, е. | Encre. |
Where the eye mixes ie and ink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ie with ink
A purely visual mix-up. ie (\je\) and ink (\ɪŋk\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52741, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ie is recorded at frequency rank #7,068, classified as anoun, pronounced \je\. ink is at rank #45,673, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɪŋk\.
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 52741, this pair ranks #145,607 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ie vs ink
Shared letters: i. Private to "ie": e. Private to "ink": kn.
"ie" · 2 letters · shape VV · "ink" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ie" for "ink" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ie" or "ink"?
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 "ie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #145,607 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ie" and "ink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ink vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #145,607 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.