impvsisiConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#26,085
“imp” frequency rank
#39,822
“isi” frequency rank
65907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imp isi
Definition Granuja. El extranjero, tierra o país de donde uno no es.

Where the eye mixes imp and isi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
imp
3 ch
isi

Visual trap between imp and isi

A purely visual mix-up. imp (/ɪmp/) and isi (/ì.sí/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imp is recorded at frequency rank #26,085, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪmp/. isi is at rank #39,822, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ì.sí/.

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 65907, this pair ranks #41,314 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of imp vs isi

Shared letters: i. Private to "imp": mp. Private to "isi": s.

"imp" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "isi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "imp" for "isi" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɪmp/ versus /ì.sí/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "imp" or "isi" show up more?
"imp" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,085 in our Spanish list, against #39,822 for "isi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "imp" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "isi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,314 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "imp" and "isi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "isi vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #41,314 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