iivsixWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: ii is a adverb, ix is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ii” is an adverb and “ix” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#627
“ii” frequency rank
#9,027
“ix” frequency rank
9654
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ii ix
Definition Oui. Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de eixir.

Where the eye mixes ii and ix

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
ii
2 ch
ix

Look-alike desk: ii vs ix

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ii is \iː\ while ix is \ˈiʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “ii” becomes x in “ix”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ii is recorded at frequency rank #627, classified as anadv, pronounced \iː\. ix is at rank #9,027, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈiʃ\.

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 9654, this pair ranks #415,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ii vs ix

Shared letters: i. Private to "ii": -. Private to "ix": x.

"ii" · 2 letters · shape VV  ·  "ix" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ii" and "ix" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ii" is an adverb and "ix" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ii" or "ix"?
"ii" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #627 in our French list, against #9,027 for "ix". 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 "ii" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ix" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #415,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ii" and "ix" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "isi vs ix". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #415,902 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