Which to use
“ii” is an adverb and “il” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #627
- “ii” frequency rank
- #18
- “il” frequency rank
- 645
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ii | il |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Oui. | Pronom de la troisième personne du singulier masculin (utilisé exclusivement en tant que sujet). Désigne une personne, un animal ou une chose dont le genre est masculin. |
Where the eye mixes ii and il
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ii with il
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ii is \iː\ while il is \il\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “ii” becomes l in “il”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ii is recorded at frequency rank #627, classified as anadv, pronounced \iː\. il is at rank #18, tagged as apron, pronounced \il\.
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 645, this pair ranks #439,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ii vs il
Shared letters: i. Private to "ii": -. Private to "il": l.
"ii" · 2 letters · shape VV · "il" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ii" and "il" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ii" vs "il" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ii" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "il" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ii" and "il" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ii vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #439,342 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.