Which to use
“io” and “ire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,588
- “io” frequency rank
- #23,590
- “ire” frequency rank
- 47178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | io | ire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Septième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, ё. | Colère. |
Where the eye mixes io and ire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between io and ire
A purely visual mix-up. io (\jo\) and ire (\iʁ\) 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 47178, 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\. ire is at rank #23,590, tagged as anoun, pronounced \iʁ\.
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 47178, this pair ranks #188,947 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of io vs ire
Shared letters: i. Private to "io": o. Private to "ire": er.
"io" · 2 letters · shape VV · "ire" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "io" and "ire" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "io" or "ire"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "io" and "ire" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "io" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #188,947 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "io" and "ire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ire vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #188,947 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.