îlots vs ils, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“îlots” is a noun and “ils” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,828
“îlots” frequency rank: #54
“ils” frequency rank: 21882
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	îlots	ils
Definition	Pluriel de îlot.	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.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

îlots

3 ch

ils

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: îlots is \i.lo\ while ils is \il\. 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 pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

îlots is recorded at frequency rank #21,828, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.lo\. 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 21882, this pair ranks #360,950 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of îlots vs ils

Shared letters: ls. Private to "îlots": otî. Private to "ils": i.

"îlots" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "ils" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequency comparison

îlots#21,828

ils#54

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "îlots" and "ils" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "îlots" is a noun and "ils" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "îlots" or "ils"?

"ils" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #54 in our French list, against #21,828 for "îlots". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering îlots vs ils

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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