Which to use
“ion” and “ire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,064
- “ion” frequency rank
- #23,590
- “ire” frequency rank
- 37654
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ion | ire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Atome ou molécule ayant perdu ou gagné des électrons sur sa couche externe. | Colère. |
Where the eye mixes ion and ire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ion with ire
A purely visual mix-up. ion (\jɔ̃\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ion is recorded at frequency rank #14,064, classified as anoun, pronounced \jɔ̃\. 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 37654, this pair ranks #260,928 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ion vs ire
Shared letters: i. Private to "ion": no. Private to "ire": er.
"ion" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "ire" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ion" for "ire" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ion" vs "ire" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ion" and "ire" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ion" 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 #260,928 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ion" and "ire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ire vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #260,928 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.