icevsisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ice is a noun, is is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#10,198
“ice” frequency rank
#1,709
“is” frequency rank
11907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ice is
Definition gelo contração de agus; e

Letter map: ice vs is

Shared letters muted; letters that set ice and is apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
ice
2 ch
is

Grammar separator: ice vs is

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ice is anoun and isaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ice is recorded at frequency rank #10,198, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɑɪs/. is is at rank #1,709, tagged as averb.

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 11907, this pair ranks #60,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ice vs is

Shared letters: i. Private to "ice": ce. Private to "is": s.

"ice" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "is" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ice" and "is" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ice" is a noun and "is" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ice" vs "is" - which ranks higher?
"is" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,709 in our Portuguese list, against #10,198 for "ice". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ice" and "is".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "is" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ice" and "is" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ice vs ino". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #60,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list