IS is the 17th most common letter pair in English, at 1.13% of all letter pairs. On QWERTY you type I with your right middle finger and S with your left ring finger (alternating hands).
| Fact | IS |
|---|---|
| Rank among English letter pairs | 17th |
| Share of all letter pairs | 1.13% |
| First letter | I, right middle finger |
| Second letter | S, left ring finger |
| Pattern | Alternating hands |
How to type IS faster
I is typed with the right middle finger and S with the left ring finger. Pairs that alternate hands are the fastest to type, because one hand gets ready while the other presses. The 136 Million Keystrokes study found that pairs typed by different hands or fingers are the strongest predictor of typing speed.
Words with IS
is, his, this, list, wish, visit, history, island, mist, sister, distance, discover, listen, display, exist, promise, realistic, finish, polish.
Frequencies are from Peter Norvig's count of 2.8 trillion letter pairs in the Google Books data.
Why letter pairs matter
Your fingers learn pairs and whole words as single movements. The largest published typing study found that pairs typed with different hands or fingers are the strongest predictor of overall speed, so drilling the most common pairs pays off in every word you type.
A 5-minute routine for IS
- Slow and exact: type IS ten times with perfect accuracy, focusing on the motion between the two keys.
- Words: is, his, this, list, wish, visit. Type each word five times.
- Reverse: type SI ten times to train both directions.
- Test: take a 1-minute typing test and check the Insights tab for your slowest pairs.
What makes a pair fast or slow
- Alternating hands (like TH or EN in many cases) are fastest: one hand prepares while the other presses.
- Same hand, different fingers can be fast if you roll from one key to the next.
- Same finger pairs, such as ED, DE and CE on QWERTY, are slowest because one finger must jump rows. This pair is typed with: alternating hands.
Track your progress
After each test, the Insights tab lists your slowest letter pairs. Letter pair practice builds a drill from them automatically.
Which finger types which key
| Finger | Left hand | Right hand |
|---|---|---|
| Index | R T F G V B 4 5 | Y U H J N M 6 7 |
| Middle | E D C 3 | I K , 8 |
| Ring | W S X 2 | O L . 9 |
| Pinky | Q A Z 1 ` Tab Caps Shift | P ; / 0 - = [ ] ' Enter Shift Backspace |
| Thumb | Space | Space |
| Grade | Speed | Faster than | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 0 to 29 WPM | 0.5% of typists | Usually looking at the keys or typing with two to four fingers. Touch typing lessons give the biggest gains here. |
| Below average | 30 to 44 WPM | 14% of typists | Comfortable for messages and short emails. A few weeks of daily practice usually moves people into the average band. |
| Average | 45 to 59 WPM | 37% of typists | The speed of a typical computer user. Meets most office requirements, including the 40 WPM federal clerk-typist standard. |
| Above average | 60 to 74 WPM | 66% of typists | Faster than about two thirds of typists. Meets typical requirements for data entry, chat support and most administrative roles. |
| Fast | 75 to 89 WPM | 88% of typists | Faster than about 9 in 10 typists. Competitive for transcription, legal and executive assistant roles. |
| Expert | 90 to 119 WPM | 97% of typists | Fewer than 3 in 100 typists reach this band. Speed is no longer the limit for any common job. |
| Elite | 120+ WPM | more than 99.9% of typists | Competition-level typing. Very few people ever sustain this speed on varied text. |
How long until a pair feels automatic?
Most people notice a difference within a week of short daily practice. Common pairs appear in so many words that the gains spread quickly to your overall speed. Keep accuracy above 96% while you drill; a fast but sloppy pair will not transfer to real typing.
Every way to practice on Typeri
| Mode | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Random common words for 15 seconds to 10 minutes, or any custom length | Benchmarks and stamina |
| Words | A fixed number of words, 10 to 200 or custom | Quick, repeatable checks |
| Quote | Real sentences in short, medium or long passages | Everyday writing speed |
| Zen | Type anything you like with no target text; Shift + Enter to finish | Warm-ups and free writing |
| Custom | Paste any text: a speech, an article or job vocabulary | Practicing exactly what you type at work |
| Code | Real code in 17 programming languages with auto-indent | Programmers |
| 10-key | Numeric keypad drills scored in keystrokes per hour | Data entry and accounting |
Add punctuation or numbers to time and words tests, switch between 12 languages, and open the settings to change text size, show an on-screen keyboard, add a pace caret or stop on errors.
More questions
How many words is a IS drill? At the average speed of 52 WPM you will type about 52 words. At 40 WPM about 40 words, and at 80 WPM about 80 words.
How accurate is the IS drill? It counts only correctly typed characters and uses the standard five-characters-per-word formula, the same method employers and typing schools use. For a reliable number, take the test three times and average the results.
Why is my score lower than on other sites? Many sites report raw speed or round up. Typeri reports net speed, so uncorrected mistakes do not count. Text difficulty also matters: punctuation, capitals and numbers all slow everyone down.
Does the test work on a phone? Yes. Tap the text to open your keyboard. Phone typing is usually slower than a physical keyboard, so compare phone results with other phone results.
How often should I test? Once or twice a day is plenty. Spend the rest of your practice time on drills for your weakest keys and letter pairs, which is where improvement comes from.
Other letter pairs
Frequently asked questions
How common is IS in English?
IS makes up 1.13% of all letter pairs, ranking 17th (Norvig, Google Books data).
Which fingers type IS?
I uses the right middle finger and S uses the left ring finger on a QWERTY keyboard.