import vs imports, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#6,061
“import” frequency rank: #8,557
“imports” frequency rank: 14618
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	import	imports
Definition	Something brought in from an exterior source, especially for sale or trade.	plural of import

Letter map: import vs imports

Shared letters muted; letters that set import and imports apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. import runs 6 letters (VCCVCC) against imports's 7 (VCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch

import

7 ch

imports

Corpus notes: import and imports

import and imports 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “import” sits inside “imports”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

import is recorded at frequency rank #6,061, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪm.pɔːt/. imports is at rank #8,557, tagged as anoun.

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 14618, this pair ranks #468,952 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of import vs imports

Shared letters: imoprt. Private to "import": -. Private to "imports": s.

"import" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "imports" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

import ← immport · imoprt · imporrt · importt · impotr · impport · improt · ipmort
imports ← immports · imoprts · imporrts · imporst · importss · importts · impotrs · impports

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "import" and "imports" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “import” sits inside “imports”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Frequency check: "import" vs "imports" - which ranks higher?

"import" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,061 in our English list, against #8,557 for "imports". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "import" vs "imports" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "import" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "imports" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #468,952 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"import" and "imports" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "implore vs import". 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 #468,952 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.