Which to use
“idea” and “ilha” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,034
- “idea” frequency rank
- #1,012
- “ilha” frequency rank
- 25046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | idea | ilha |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ideia | porção de terra emersa cercada de água |
Where the eye mixes idea and ilha
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses idea with ilha
A purely visual mix-up. idea (/i.ˈðe.a/) and ilha (/ˈi.ʎɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
idea is recorded at frequency rank #24,034, classified as anoun, pronounced /i.ˈðe.a/. ilha is at rank #1,012, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈi.ʎɐ/.
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 25046, this pair ranks #44,369 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of idea vs ilha
Shared letters: ai. Private to "idea": de. Private to "ilha": hl.
"idea" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "ilha" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "idea" and "ilha" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "idea" or "ilha" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "idea" and "ilha" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "idea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ilha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #44,369 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "idea" and "ilha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "idea vs ina". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #44,369 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.