io vs isi, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#23,588
“io” frequency rank: #49,170
“isi” frequency rank: 72758
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	io	isi
Definition	Septième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, ё.	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 io and isi apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch

3 ch

isi

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: io is \jo\ while isi is \ˈisːi\. 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 72758, 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\. 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 72758, this pair ranks #42,871 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of io vs isi

Shared letters: i. Private to "io": o. Private to "isi": s.

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

Frequency comparison

io#23,588

isi#49,170

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"io" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,588 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 io vs isi

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “io”; for a verb, it's “isi”.
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