Which to use
“ill” is an adjective and “in” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,899
- “ill” frequency rank
- #269
- “in” frequency rank
- 45168
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ill | in |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | doente | em |
Letter map: ill vs in
Shared letters muted; letters that set ill and in apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Role in the sentence - ill and in
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ill is anadjective and inapreposition. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ill is recorded at frequency rank #44,899, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪl/. in is at rank #269, tagged as aprep.
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 45168, this pair ranks #20,249 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ill vs in
Shared letters: i. Private to "ill": l. Private to "in": n.
"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "in" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ill" and "in" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ill" or "in"?
What to do next
Pair "ill" vs "in" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "in" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,249 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ill" and "in" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ill vs ino". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #20,249 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.