ihnvsileWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ihn is a pronoun, ile is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ihn” is a pronoun and “ile” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#140
“ihn” frequency rank
#48,983
“ile” frequency rank
49123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ihn ile
Definition Personalpronomen 3. Person Maskulinum Singular Akkusativ Haar n

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ihn and ile apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ihn
3 ch
ile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ihn is apronoun and ileanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ihn is recorded at frequency rank #140, classified as apron, pronounced [iːn]. ile is at rank #48,983, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 49123, this pair ranks #1,223,303 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ihn vs ile

Shared letters: i. Private to "ihn": hn. Private to "ile": el.

"ihn" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "ile" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

ihn#140
ile#48,983

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ihn" and "ile" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ihn" is a pronoun and "ile" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ihn" or "ile"?
"ihn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #140 in our German list, against #48,983 for "ile". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ihn vs ile

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “ihn”; for a noun, it's “ile”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ihn” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list