Which to use
“ils” is a pronoun and “ive” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #54
- “ils” frequency rank
- #20,178
- “ive” frequency rank
- 20232
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ils | ive |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Germandrée dont les feuilles, légèrement amères et aromatiques, sont employées en médecine. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ils and ive apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
ils and ive form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ils is recorded at frequency rank #54, classified as apron, pronounced \il\. ive is at rank #20,178, tagged as anoun, pronounced \iv\.
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 20232, this pair ranks #369,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ils" and "ive" be used interchangeably?
Remembering ils vs ive
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “ils”; for a noun, it's “ive”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ils” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable