Which to use
“ill” is an adjective and “ina” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,899
- “ill” frequency rank
- #44,904
- “ina” frequency rank
- 89803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ill | ina |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | doente | mãe |
Where the eye mixes ill and ina
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ill (VCC) and ina (VCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between ill and ina
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ill is /ɪl/ while ina is /iˈna/, [ʔɪˈnʌ]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89803, 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/. ina is at rank #44,904, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iˈna/, [ʔɪˈnʌ].
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 89803, this pair ranks #306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ill vs ina
Shared letters: i. Private to "ill": l. Private to "ina": an.
"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ina" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ill" and "ina" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ill" or "ina" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ill" and "ina" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ina" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ill" and "ina" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ina vs ino". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.