Aisle vs isle
Aisle and isle sound the same. An aisle is a path between rows of seats or shelves. An isle is an island, a word used mostly in place names and poems.
An isle is an island. Both words start with is.
aisle noun
A clear path between or through rows of seats, or between shelves in a store.
- Cleaning supplies are at the far end of the aisle, past the paper towels.
- Please keep your bags out of the aisle during the flight.
isle noun
An island, especially a small one. Isle is used mostly in place names, like the Isle of Man, and in poems. In everyday English, people say island.
- Gulls nested on a rocky isle a few hundred yards offshore.
- They rowed out to a tiny isle in the middle of the lake.
Watch out
- Isle was once a spelling of aisle, but that use is obsolete. Today a path between seats is always spelled aisle.
- In US politics, the aisle is the imagined line between the two main parties. Across the aisle means on the other party's side. It is spelled aisle, not isle.The senator reached across the aisle to win support for the farm bill.
Test yourself
The bride walked slowly down the blank.
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aisle. It is the path a wedding party walks along, so aisle.
From the boat we could see a small green blank with one tree on it.
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isle. It is land with water around it, so isle.
Would you like a window seat or an blank seat?
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aisle. The seat is next to the walkway, so aisle.
The pasta is in the third blank on the left.
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aisle. It is a path between store shelves, so aisle.