Which to use
“ihm” is a pronoun and “IQ” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #137
- “ihm” frequency rank
- #9,573
- “IQ” frequency rank
- 9710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ihm | IQ |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personalpronomen 3. Person Maskulinum Singular Dativ | Intelligenzquotient |
Where the eye mixes ihm and IQ
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ihm with IQ
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ihm is [iːm] while IQ is [iːˈkuː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ihm is recorded at frequency rank #137, classified as apron, pronounced [iːm]. IQ is at rank #9,573, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [iːˈkuː].
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 9710, this pair ranks #1,978,662 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ihm vs IQ
Shared letters: i. Private to "ihm": hm. Private to "IQ": q.
"ihm" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "IQ" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ihm" for "IQ" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ihm" vs "IQ" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ihm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "IQ" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,978,662 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ihm" and "IQ" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IMs vs IQ". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,978,662 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.