ImavsithWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Ima is a contraction, ith is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ima” is a contraction and “ith” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,790
“Ima” frequency rank
#49,435
“ith” frequency rank
75225
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ima ith
Definition Alternative form of Imma (I'm going to). Occurring at position i in a sequence.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Ima and ith apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
Ima
3 ch
ith

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Ima is acontraction and ithanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ima is recorded at frequency rank #25,790, classified as acontraction. ith is at rank #49,435, tagged as anadj, pronounced /aɪθ/.

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 75225, this pair ranks #33,810 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Ima vs ith

Shared letters: i. Private to "Ima": am. Private to "ith": ht.

"Ima" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ith" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequency comparison

Ima#25,790
ith#49,435

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ima" and "ith" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ima" is a contraction and "ith" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ima" or "ith"?
"Ima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,790 in our English list, against #49,435 for "ith". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Ima vs ith

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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