ilevsisoléWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ile is a noun, isolé is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ile” is a noun and “isolé” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,925
“ile” frequency rank
#6,210
“isolé” frequency rank
10135
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ile isolé
Definition Espace de terre entouré d’eau de tous côtés. Qui est séparé de choses de même nature ou d’une autre nature.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ile and isolé apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ile
5 ch
isolé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ile is \il\ while isolé is \i.zɔ.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10135, 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\. isolé is at rank #6,210, tagged as anadj, pronounced \i.zɔ.le\.

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 10135, this pair ranks #414,088 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ile vs isolé

Shared letters: il. Private to "ile": e. Private to "isolé": osé.

"ile" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "isolé" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequency comparison

ile#3,925
isolé#6,210

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ile" and "isolé" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ile" is a noun and "isolé" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ile" or "isolé"?
"ile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,925 in our French list, against #6,210 for "isolé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ile vs isolé

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ile”; for an adjective, it's “isolé”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ile” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list