Which to use
“io” is a noun and “iu” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,588
- “io” frequency rank
- #46,833
- “iu” frequency rank
- 70421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | io | iu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Septième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, ё. | Je. |
Where the eye mixes io and iu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses io with iu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: io is \jo\ while iu is \ˈiu\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - o in “io” becomes u in “iu”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70421, 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\. iu is at rank #46,833, tagged as apron, pronounced \ˈiu\.
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 70421, this pair ranks #51,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of io vs iu
Shared letters: i. Private to "io": o. Private to "iu": u.
"io" · 2 letters · shape VV · "iu" · 2 letters · shape VV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "io" and "iu" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "io" or "iu"?
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 "iu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "io" and "iu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "isi vs iu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #51,379 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.