Which to use
“ic” is a pronoun and “ill” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,339
- “ic” frequency rank
- #44,899
- “ill” frequency rank
- 70238
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ic | ill |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eu, pronome pessoal do caso reto da primeira pessoa do singular | doente |
Where the eye mixes ic and ill
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ic vs ill
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ic is /iʧ/ while ill is /ɪl/. 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 (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ic is recorded at frequency rank #25,339, classified as apron, pronounced /iʧ/. ill is at rank #44,899, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪl/.
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 70238, this pair ranks #3,695 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ic vs ill
Shared letters: i. Private to "ic": c. Private to "ill": l.
"ic" · 2 letters · shape VC · "ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ic" for "ill" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ic" vs "ill" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,695 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ic" and "ill" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ill vs ino". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #3,695 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.