IchsvsIMsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,807
“Ichs” frequency rank
#49,797
“IMs” frequency rank
56604
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ichs IMs
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Ich Nominativ Plural des Substantivs IM

Where the eye mixes Ichs and IMs

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

4 ch
Ichs
3 ch
IMs

Visual trap between Ichs and IMs

A purely visual mix-up. Ichs ([ɪçs]) and IMs ([iˈʔɛms]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ichs is recorded at frequency rank #6,807, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɪçs]. IMs is at rank #49,797, tagged as anoun, pronounced [iˈʔɛms].

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 56604, this pair ranks #933,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ichs vs IMs

Shared letters: is. Private to "Ichs": ch. Private to "IMs": m.

"Ichs" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "IMs" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ichscihs · icchs · ichhs · ichss · icsh · ihcs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ichs" for "IMs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɪçs] versus [iˈʔɛms]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Ichs" or "IMs" show up more?
"Ichs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,807 in our German list, against #49,797 for "IMs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ichs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "IMs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #933,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ichs" and "IMs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ile vs IMs". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #933,890 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list