ihnvsimpConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#140
“ihn” frequency rank
#44,702
“imp” frequency rank
44842
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ihn imp
Definition Personalpronomen 3. Person Maskulinum Singular Akkusativ ein nicht mächtiges Fabelwesen von gedrungener Gestalt; meist grünlich/bräunliche Hautfarbe

Where the eye mixes ihn and imp

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ihn
3 ch
imp

Look-alike desk: ihn vs imp

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ihn is [iːn] while imp is [ɪmp]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44842, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ihn is recorded at frequency rank #140, classified as apron, pronounced [iːn]. imp is at rank #44,702, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɪmp].

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 44842, this pair ranks #1,372,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ihn vs imp

Shared letters: i. Private to "ihn": hn. Private to "imp": mp.

"ihn" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "imp" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ihn" for "imp" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ihn" is a pronoun and "imp" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ihn" or "imp"?
"ihn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #140 in our German list, against #44,702 for "imp". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ihn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "imp" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,372,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ihn" and "imp" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imp vs IMs". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,372,957 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