Which to use
“ils” is a pronoun and “isle” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #54
- “ils” frequency rank
- #11,988
- “isle” frequency rank
- 12042
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ils | isle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Île. |
Same sound, different letters: ils vs isle
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - ils and isle
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: ils and isle carry the same recorded pronunciation, \il\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is apronoun, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ils is recorded at frequency rank #54, classified as apron, pronounced \il\. isle is at rank #11,988, tagged as anoun, 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 12042, this pair ranks #406,814 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ils vs isle
Shared letters: ils. Private to "ils": -. Private to "isle": e.
"ils" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "isle" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- isle ← isel · islle · issle · sile
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ils" for "isle" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ils" vs "isle" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "ils" / "isle". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "ils" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "isle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,814 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ils" and "isle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "isi vs isle". 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 #406,814 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.