iovsIPAWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,588
“io” frequency rank
#48,610
“IPA” frequency rank
72198
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature io IPA
Definition Septième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, ё. Indice de pollution atmosphérique.

Where the spellings diverge

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

2 ch
io
3 ch
IPA

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. io (\jo\) and IPA (\i.pe.a\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

io is recorded at frequency rank #23,588, classified as anoun, pronounced \jo\. IPA is at rank #48,610, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.pe.a\.

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 72198, this pair ranks #44,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of io vs IPA

Shared letters: i. Private to "io": o. Private to "IPA": ap.

"io" · 2 letters · shape VV  ·  "IPA" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

io#23,588
IPA#48,610

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "io" and "IPA" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\jo\ versus \i.pe.a\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "io" or "IPA"?
"io" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,588 in our French list, against #48,610 for "IPA". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering io vs IPA

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “io” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list