Which to use
“ici” is an adverb and “ill” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,880
- “ici” frequency rank
- #44,899
- “ill” frequency rank
- 90779
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ici | ill |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aqui | doente |
Where the eye mixes ici and ill
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ici vs ill
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ici is \i.si\ while ill is /ɪl/. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ici is recorded at frequency rank #45,880, classified as anadv, pronounced \i.si\. 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 90779, this pair ranks #247 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ici vs ill
Shared letters: i. Private to "ici": c. Private to "ill": l.
"ici" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ici" for "ill" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ici" vs "ill" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ici" and "ill" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ici" 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 #247 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ici" and "ill" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ici vs ino". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #247 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.