ill vs im, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ill” and “im” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,059
“ill” frequency rank: #10,152
“im” frequency rank: 53211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ill	im
Definition	Enfermo.	Mi.

Letter map: ill vs im

Shared letters muted; letters that set ill and im apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

ill

2 ch

Corpus notes: ill and im

ill and im are indexed as a confusable Spanish 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ill is recorded at frequency rank #43,059, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪl/. im is at rank #10,152, tagged as anadj.

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 53211, this pair ranks #88,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ill vs im

Shared letters: i. Private to "ill": l. Private to "im": m.

"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "im" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ill" and "im" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

In ordinary Spanish text, does "ill" or "im" show up more?

"im" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,152 in our Spanish list, against #43,059 for "ill". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ill" and "im".

Full dictionary entry for "ill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "im" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #88,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ill" and "im" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ill vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #88,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.