Which to use
“ie” and “ivy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,068
- “ie” frequency rank
- #23,913
- “ivy” frequency rank
- 30981
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ie | ivy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Neuvième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, е. | Lierre. |
Where the eye mixes ie and ivy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ie vs ivy
A purely visual mix-up. ie (\je\) and ivy ([ˈaɪ.vi]) 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 30981, 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\. ivy is at rank #23,913, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ.vi].
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 30981, this pair ranks #306,767 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ie vs ivy
Shared letters: i. Private to "ie": e. Private to "ivy": vy.
"ie" · 2 letters · shape VV · "ivy" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ie" for "ivy" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ie" or "ivy" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ie" and "ivy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ivy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306,767 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ie" and "ivy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "isi vs ivy". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #306,767 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.