Which to use
“ima” and “imams” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,435
- “ima” frequency rank
- #23,892
- “imams” frequency rank
- 60327
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ima | imams |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Maison. | Pluriel de imam. |
Where the eye mixes ima and imams
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ima and imams
A purely visual mix-up. ima (\ima\) and imams (\i.mam\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ima” sits inside “imams”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ima is recorded at frequency rank #36,435, classified as anoun, pronounced \ima\. imams is at rank #23,892, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.mam\.
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 60327, this pair ranks #98,187 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ima vs imams
Shared letters: aim. Private to "ima": -. Private to "imams": s.
"ima" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "imams" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- imams ← iamms · imamms · imamss · imasm · immams · immas · miams
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ima" for "imams" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ima" vs "imams" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ima" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "imams" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,187 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ima" and "imams" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ima vs isi". 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 #98,187 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.