ilesvsionsConfusable pair

Which to use

“iles” and “ions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,699
“iles” frequency rank
#17,978
“ions” frequency rank
32677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature iles ions
Definition Parties latérales et inférieures du bas-ventre. Pluriel de ion.

Where the eye mixes iles and ions

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
iles
4 ch
ions

Look-alike desk: iles vs ions

A purely visual mix-up. iles (\i.lɛs\) and ions (\jɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

iles is recorded at frequency rank #14,699, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.lɛs\. ions is at rank #17,978, tagged as anoun, pronounced \jɔ̃\.

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 32677, this pair ranks #295,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of iles vs ions

Shared letters: is. Private to "iles": el. Private to "ions": no.

"iles" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "ions" · 4 letters · shape VVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ilesiels · iless · illes
  • ionsinos · ionns · ionss · iosn · oins

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "iles" and "ions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\i.lɛs\ versus \jɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "iles" or "ions" show up more?
"iles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,699 in our French list, against #17,978 for "ions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "iles" and "ions" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "iles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #295,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "iles" and "ions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ilona vs ions". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #295,689 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