ilha vs ira, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ilha” and “ira” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,012
“ilha” frequency rank: #5,314
“ira” frequency rank: 6326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ilha	ira
Definition	porção de terra emersa cercada de água	cólera

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ilha and ira apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

ilha

3 ch

ira

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ilha (/ˈi.ʎɐ/) and ira (/ˈi.ɾɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ilha is recorded at frequency rank #1,012, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈi.ʎɐ/. ira is at rank #5,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈi.ɾɐ/.

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 6326, this pair ranks #68,122 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ilha vs ira

Shared letters: ai. Private to "ilha": hl. Private to "ira": r.

"ilha" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

ilha ← ihla · ilah · ilhha · illha · liha

Frequency comparison

ilha#1,012

ira#5,314

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ilha" and "ira" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈi.ʎɐ/ versus /ˈi.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "ilha" or "ira"?

"ilha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,012 in our Portuguese list, against #5,314 for "ira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ilha vs ira

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ilha” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable