iesvsIMGWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ies” and “IMG” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,988
“ies” frequency rank
#29,690
“IMG” frequency rank
75678
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ies IMG
Definition plural of i, the name of the letter I. An image.

Letter map: ies vs IMG

Shared letters muted; letters that set ies and IMG apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. ies (VVC) and IMG (VCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
ies
3 ch
IMG

Pair insight - ies / IMG

ies and IMG are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75678, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ies is recorded at frequency rank #45,988, classified as anoun. IMG is at rank #29,690, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪm(ɪ)d͡ʒ/.

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 75678, this pair ranks #32,375 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ies vs IMG

Shared letters: i. Private to "ies": es. Private to "IMG": gm.

"ies" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "IMG" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ies" and "IMG" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "ies" or "IMG" show up more?
"IMG" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,690 in our English list, against #45,988 for "ies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "ies" vs "IMG" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "IMG" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,375 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ies" and "IMG" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ies vs ith". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #32,375 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list