ink vs isi, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ink” is a noun and “isi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,673
“ink” frequency rank: #49,170
“isi” frequency rank: 94843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ink	isi
Definition	Encre.	Deuxième personne du singulier du futur de l’indicatif du verbe isal/isañ.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ink and isi apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

ink

3 ch

isi

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ink is \ɪŋk\ while isi is \ˈisːi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 94843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ink is recorded at frequency rank #45,673, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɪŋk\. isi is at rank #49,170, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈisːi\.

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 94843, this pair ranks #1,388 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ink vs isi

Shared letters: i. Private to "ink": kn. Private to "isi": s.

"ink" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "isi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

ink#45,673

isi#49,170

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ink" and "isi" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "ink" or "isi"?

"ink" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,673 in our French list, against #49,170 for "isi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ink vs isi

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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