Which to use
“ile” is a noun and “ils” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,925
- “ile” frequency rank
- #54
- “ils” frequency rank
- 3979
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ile | ils |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espace de terre entouré d’eau de tous côtés. | 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: ile vs ils
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Homophone desk: ile vs ils
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: ile and ils carry the same recorded pronunciation, \il\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other apronoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - e in “ile” becomes s in “ils”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3979, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ile is recorded at frequency rank #3,925, classified as anoun, 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 3979, this pair ranks #432,745 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ile vs ils
Shared letters: il. Private to "ile": e. Private to "ils": s.
"ile" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ils" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ile" and "ils" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ile" vs "ils" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "ile" / "ils". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "ile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,745 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ile" and "ils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ile vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #432,745 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.