Which to use
“ihm” is a pronoun and “ist” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #137
- “ihm” frequency rank
- #7
- “ist” frequency rank
- 144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ihm | ist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personalpronomen 3. Person Maskulinum Singular Dativ | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes ihm and ist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ihm with ist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ihm is [iːm] while ist is [ɪst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ihm is recorded at frequency rank #137, classified as apron, pronounced [iːm]. ist is at rank #7, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɪst].
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 144, this pair ranks #2,006,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ihm vs ist
Shared letters: i. Private to "ihm": hm. Private to "ist": st.
"ihm" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ist" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ihm" and "ist" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ihm" vs "ist" - 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 "ist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,006,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ihm" and "ist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ihm vs IMs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,006,229 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.