Which to use
“ihr” and “its” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #72
- “ihr” frequency rank
- #9,388
- “its” frequency rank
- 9460
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ihr | its |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural | sein |
Where the eye mixes ihr and its
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ihr with its
A purely visual mix-up. ihr ([iːɐ̯]) and its ([ɪts]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ihr is recorded at frequency rank #72, classified as apron, pronounced [iːɐ̯]. 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 9460, this pair ranks #1,979,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ihr vs its
Shared letters: i. Private to "ihr": hr. Private to "its": st.
"ihr" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "its" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ihr" for "its" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ihr" vs "its" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ihr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "its" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,979,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ihr" and "its" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IMs vs its". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,979,850 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.