Which to use
“ill” is an adverb and “IMO” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,175
- “ill” frequency rank
- #21,299
- “IMO” frequency rank
- 46474
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ill | IMO |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schlecht, falsch | Institut für Marktökologie (Sitz in der Schweiz) |
Where the eye mixes ill and IMO
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ill vs IMO
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ill is [ɪl] while IMO is [ˌiːɛmˈʔoː]. 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 (adverb vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ill is recorded at frequency rank #25,175, classified as anadv, pronounced [ɪl]. IMO is at rank #21,299, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ˌiːɛmˈʔoː].
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 46474, this pair ranks #1,317,856 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ill vs IMO
Shared letters: i. Private to "ill": l. Private to "IMO": mo.
"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "IMO" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ill" for "IMO" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ill" vs "IMO" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ill" and "IMO" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "IMO" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,317,856 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ill" and "IMO" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ill vs IMs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,317,856 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.