Which to use
“ils” is a pronoun and “ira” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,900
- “ils” frequency rank
- #5,314
- “ira” frequency rank
- 50214
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ils | ira |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eles | cólera |
Where the eye mixes ils and ira
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ils (VCC) and ira (VCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between ils and ira
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ils is \il\ while ira is /ˈi.ɾɐ/. 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 50214, 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\. 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 50214, this pair ranks #14,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ils vs ira
Shared letters: i. Private to "ils": ls. Private to "ira": ar.
"ils" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ils" and "ira" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ils" or "ira" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ils" and "ira" 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 "ira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ils" and "ira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ils vs ino". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #14,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.