InnvsinnigWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Inn is a name, innig is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Inn” is a name and “innig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,396
“Inn” frequency rank
#37,588
“innig” frequency rank
45984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Inn innig
Definition der größte rechte Nebenfluss der oberen Donau; entspringt am Malojapass (Graubünden), bildet im Ober- und Mittellauf ein großes Alpenlängstal und mündet nach 510 km Flusslauf bei Passau in die Donau Leidenschaft besitzend, im Sinne von

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Inn and innig apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
Inn
5 ch
innig

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Inn is [ɪn] while innig is [ˈɪnɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Inn” sits inside “innig”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Inn is recorded at frequency rank #8,396, classified as aname, pronounced [ɪn]. innig is at rank #37,588, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɪnɪç].

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 45984, this pair ranks #1,334,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Inn vs innig

Shared letters: in. Private to "Inn": -. Private to "innig": g.

"Inn" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "innig" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inniginig · ining · inngi · innigg · ninig

Frequency comparison

Inn#8,396
innig#37,588

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Inn" and "innig" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Inn" is a name and "innig" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Inn" or "innig"?
"Inn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,396 in our German list, against #37,588 for "innig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Inn vs innig

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Inn”; for an adjective, it's “innig”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Inn” 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