ina vs is, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ina” is a noun and “is” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,904
“ina” frequency rank: #1,709
“is” frequency rank: 46613
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ina	is
Definition	mãe	contração de agus; e

Letter map: ina vs is

Shared letters muted; letters that set ina and is apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

ina

2 ch

Grammar separator: ina vs is

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ina is anoun and isaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ina is recorded at frequency rank #44,904, classified as anoun, pronounced /iˈna/, [ʔɪˈnʌ]. is is at rank #1,709, tagged as averb.

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 46613, this pair ranks #18,692 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ina vs is

Shared letters: i. Private to "ina": an. Private to "is": s.

"ina" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "is" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ina" and "is" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ina" is a noun and "is" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ina" or "is" show up more?

"is" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,709 in our Portuguese list, against #44,904 for "ina". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ina" and "is".

Full dictionary entry for "ina" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "is" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #18,692 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ina" and "is" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ina vs ino". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #18,692 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.