IMsvsIstsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#49,797
“IMs” frequency rank
#14,331
“Ists” frequency rank
64128
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature IMs Ists
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs IM Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Ist

Where the eye mixes IMs and Ists

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
IMs
4 ch
Ists

Look-alike desk: IMs vs Ists

A purely visual mix-up. IMs ([iˈʔɛms]) and Ists ([ɪst͡s]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64128, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

IMs is recorded at frequency rank #49,797, classified as anoun, pronounced [iˈʔɛms]. Ists is at rank #14,331, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɪst͡s].

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 64128, this pair ranks #652,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of IMs vs Ists

Shared letters: is. Private to "IMs": m. Private to "Ists": t.

"IMs" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "Ists" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Istsissts · istss · istts · itss · sits

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "IMs" and "Ists" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([iˈʔɛms] versus [ɪst͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "IMs" or "Ists" show up more?
"Ists" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,331 in our German list, against #49,797 for "IMs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "IMs" and "Ists" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "IMs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ists" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #652,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "IMs" and "Ists" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ile vs IMs". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #652,444 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