im
German, contraction
im is spelled I-M (2 letters) and appears 7,244 times per million words in written German, the 18th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Im is a German contraction meaning “contraction of in + dem; in the” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, IM is a different word: “initialism of Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter / Inoffizielle Mitarbeiterin…”.
What does im mean in English?
contraction
- 1
contraction of in + dem; in the
noun
- 1
femininemasculineinitialism of Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter / Inoffizielle Mitarbeiterin (“unofficial collaborator”), an informant in the German Democratic Republic who delivered private information to the Stasi.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
abbreviation: 1. Position innerhalb einer genannten Zeitspanne - wann? 2. Position innerhalb eines genannten Ortes - wo? 3. Beschreibung der Art und Weise - wie?
prefix: 1. verneinend, negativ belegend 2. ein-, hinein-
abbreviation: 1. Inoffizieller/inoffizieller Mitarbeiter des Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit in der DDR; umgangssprachlich auch Informeller Mitarbeiter 2. Internationaler Meister
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of im
- IM's error-unknown-tag genitive
- IMs genitive
- in den accusative masculine
- ins accusative neuter
- in die accusative feminine
- in der dative feminine
- in- alternative
- il- alternative
- ir- alternative
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to im
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is im in German?
im appears 7,244 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).