Which to use
“ils” is a pronoun and “ina” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,900
- “ils” frequency rank
- #44,904
- “ina” frequency rank
- 89804
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ils | ina |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eles | mãe |
Where the eye mixes ils and ina
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ils (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 ils and ina
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ils is \il\ 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ils is recorded at frequency rank #44,900, classified as apron, pronounced \il\. 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 89804, this pair ranks #305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ils vs ina
Shared letters: i. Private to "ils": ls. Private to "ina": an.
"ils" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ina" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ils" for "ina" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ils" vs "ina" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ils" and "ina" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ils" 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 #305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ils" and "ina" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ina vs ino". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #305 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.