Which to use
“im” is an adjective and “ir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,152
- “im” frequency rank
- #186
- “ir” frequency rank
- 10338
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | im | ir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mi. | Desplazarse de un lugar a otro. |
Letter map: im vs ir
Shared letters muted; letters that set im and ir apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for im / ir
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: im is anadjective and iraverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - m in “im” becomes r in “ir”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10338, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
im is recorded at frequency rank #10,152, classified as anadj. ir is at rank #186, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈiɾ].
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 10338, this pair ranks #298,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of im vs ir
Shared letters: i. Private to "im": m. Private to "ir": r.
"im" · 2 letters · shape VC · "ir" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "im" and "ir" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "im" or "ir" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "im" and "ir". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "im" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #298,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "im" and "ir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "im vs iza". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #298,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.