Which to use
“il” is a pronoun and “ill” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18
- “il” frequency rank
- #15,649
- “ill” frequency rank
- 15667
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | il | ill |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Malade, malsain. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set il and ill apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
il and ill form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “il” sits inside “ill” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
il is recorded at frequency rank #18, classified as apron, pronounced \il\. ill is at rank #15,649, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈɪl\.
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 15667, this pair ranks #391,359 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "il" and "ill" be used interchangeably?
Remembering il vs ill
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “il”; for an adjective, it's “ill”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “il” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable