imvsireWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,152
“im” frequency rank
#21,373
“ire” frequency rank
31525
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature im ire
Definition Mi. Ira.

Letter map: im vs ire

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

2 ch
im
3 ch
ire

Grammar separator: im vs ire

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: im is anadjective and ireanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

im is recorded at frequency rank #10,152, classified as anadj. ire is at rank #21,373, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aɪəʳ].

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 31525, this pair ranks #206,649 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of im vs ire

Shared letters: i. Private to "im": m. Private to "ire": er.

"im" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "ire" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "im" and "ire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "im" is an adjective and "ire" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "im" or "ire"?
"im" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,152 in our Spanish list, against #21,373 for "ire". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "im" vs "ire" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "im" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #206,649 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "im" and "ire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ire vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #206,649 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