Which to use
“il” and “ils” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18
- “il” frequency rank
- #54
- “ils” frequency rank
- 72
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | il | ils |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Pronom clitique de la troisième personne du pluriel sujet, quand on parle d’un groupe d’hommes et de femmes ou de choses grammaticalement masculines et féminines. |
Same sound, different letters: il vs ils
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
This is the hard kind. il and ils are pronounced identically (\il\) and both work as apronoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “il” sits inside “ils”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
il is recorded at frequency rank #18, classified as apron, pronounced \il\. ils is at rank #54, 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 72, this pair ranks #440,134 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of il vs ils
Shared letters: il. Private to "il": -. Private to "ils": s.
"il" · 2 letters · shape VC · "ils" · 3 letters · shape VCC