ici vs is, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ici” is an adverb and “is” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,880
“ici” frequency rank: #1,709
“is” frequency rank: 47589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ici	is
Definition	aqui	contração de agus; e

Letter map: ici vs is

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

3 ch

ici

2 ch

Grammar separator: ici vs is

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ici is anadverb and isaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47589, 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\. 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 47589, this pair ranks #17,650 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ici vs is

Shared letters: i. Private to "ici": c. Private to "is": s.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ici" and "is" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ici" is an adverb and "is" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "ici" 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 #45,880 for "ici". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pair "ici" vs "is" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "ici" 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 #17,650 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ici" and "is" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ici vs ino". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #17,650 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.