ihnvsitsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#140
“ihn” frequency rank
#9,388
“its” frequency rank
9528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ihn its
Definition Personalpronomen 3. Person Maskulinum Singular Akkusativ sein

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
ihn
3 ch
its

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

ihn and its form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ihn is recorded at frequency rank #140, classified as apron, pronounced [iːn]. its is at rank #9,388, tagged as apron, pronounced [ɪts].

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 9528, this pair ranks #1,979,519 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

ihn#140
its#9,388

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ihn" and "its" be used interchangeably?
No, "ihn" and "its" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering ihn vs its

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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