Which to use
“io” is a noun and “ira” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,588
- “io” frequency rank
- #2,932
- “ira” frequency rank
- 26520
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | io | ira |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Septième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, ё. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif futur simple de aller. |
Where the eye mixes io and ira
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses io with ira
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: io is \jo\ while ira is \i.ʁa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26520, 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\. ira is at rank #2,932, tagged as averb, pronounced \i.ʁa\.
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 26520, this pair ranks #334,488 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of io vs ira
Shared letters: i. Private to "io": o. Private to "ira": ar.
"io" · 2 letters · shape VV · "ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "io" and "ira" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "io" or "ira" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "io" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #334,488 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "io" and "ira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "io vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #334,488 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.