Which to use
“IPA” is a noun and “its” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,610
- “IPA” frequency rank
- #15,916
- “its” frequency rank
- 64526
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | IPA | its |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Indice de pollution atmosphérique. | Son, sa (lorsque c’est une chose qui possède). |
Where the eye mixes IPA and its
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: IPA vs its
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: IPA is \i.pe.a\ while its is \ɪts\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
IPA is recorded at frequency rank #48,610, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.pe.a\. its is at rank #15,916, tagged as adet, pronounced \ɪts\.
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 64526, this pair ranks #76,635 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of IPA vs its
Shared letters: i. Private to "IPA": ap. Private to "its": st.
"IPA" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "its" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "IPA" for "its" ever safe?
Frequency check: "IPA" vs "its" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "IPA" and "its" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "IPA" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "its" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #76,635 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "IPA" and "its" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IPA vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #76,635 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.