imvsimamConfusable pair

Quick tell: im is a adjective, imam is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“im” is an adjective and “imam” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,152
“im” frequency rank
#47,193
“imam” frequency rank
57345
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature im imam
Definition Mi. Variante de imán₂.

Letter map: im vs imam

Shared letters muted; letters that set im and imam apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

2 ch
im
4 ch
imam

Role in the sentence - im and imam

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: im is anadjective and imamanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “im” sits inside “imam”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57345, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

im is recorded at frequency rank #10,152, classified as anadj. imam is at rank #47,193, tagged as anoun, pronounced [iˈmãm].

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 57345, this pair ranks #70,865 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of im vs imam

Shared letters: im. Private to "im": -. Private to "imam": a.

"im" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "imam" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imamiamm · imamm · immam

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "im" for "imam" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "im" is an adjective and "imam" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "im" vs "imam" - which ranks higher?
"im" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,152 in our Spanish list, against #47,193 for "imam". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "im" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "imam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,865 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "im" and "imam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imam vs iza". 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 #70,865 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list