IngevsireConfusable pair

Quick tell: Inge is a name, ire is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Inge” is a name and “ire” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,631
“Inge” frequency rank
#23,189
“ire” frequency rank
36820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Inge ire
Definition weiblicher Vorname (heftiger) Zorn

Where the eye mixes Inge and ire

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

4 ch
Inge
3 ch
ire

Look-alike desk: Inge vs ire

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Inge is [ˈɪŋə] while ire is [ˈʌɪə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Inge is recorded at frequency rank #13,631, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈɪŋə]. ire is at rank #23,189, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʌɪə].

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 36820, this pair ranks #1,605,891 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Inge vs ire

Shared letters: ei. Private to "Inge": gn. Private to "ire": r.

"Inge" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "ire" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ingeigne · ineg · ingge · innge · nige

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Inge" and "ire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Inge" is a name and "ire" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Inge" or "ire" show up more?
"Inge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,631 in our German list, against #23,189 for "ire". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Inge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,605,891 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Inge" and "ire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IMs vs ire". 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 #1,605,891 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