Which to use
“ii” is an adverb and “its” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #627
- “ii” frequency rank
- #15,916
- “its” frequency rank
- 16543
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ii | its |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Oui. | Son, sa (lorsque c’est une chose qui possède). |
Where the eye mixes ii and its
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ii with its
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ii is \iː\ while its is \ɪts\. 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 (adverb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ii is recorded at frequency rank #627, classified as anadv, pronounced \iː\. its is at rank #15,916, tagged as adet, pronounced \ɪts\.
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 16543, this pair ranks #387,356 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ii vs its
Shared letters: i. Private to "ii": -. Private to "its": st.
"ii" · 2 letters · shape VV · "its" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ii" for "its" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ii" vs "its" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ii" and "its" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ii" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "its" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #387,356 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ii" and "its" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "isi vs its". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #387,356 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.