ichvsihmWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ich” and “ihm” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6
“ich” frequency rank
#137
“ihm” frequency rank
143
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ich ihm
Definition bezeichnet die eigene Person; 1. Person Singular Personalpronomen 3. Person Maskulinum Singular Dativ

Where the eye mixes ich and ihm

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ich
3 ch
ihm

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ich ([ɪç]) and ihm ([iːm]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ich is recorded at frequency rank #6, classified as apron, pronounced [ɪç]. ihm is at rank #137, tagged as apron, pronounced [iːm].

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 143, this pair ranks #2,006,231 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ich vs ihm

Shared letters: hi. Private to "ich": c. Private to "ihm": m.

"ich" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "ihm" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ich" and "ihm" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɪç] versus [iːm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ich" or "ihm"?
"ich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6 in our German list, against #137 for "ihm". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list