Which to use
“ima” and “ink” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,435
- “ima” frequency rank
- #45,673
- “ink” frequency rank
- 82108
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ima | ink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Maison. | Encre. |
Where the eye mixes ima and ink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ima (VCV) and ink (VCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ima vs ink
A purely visual mix-up. ima (\ima\) and ink (\ɪŋk\) 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 82108, 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\. ink is at rank #45,673, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɪŋk\.
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 82108, this pair ranks #17,397 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ima vs ink
Shared letters: i. Private to "ima": am. Private to "ink": kn.
"ima" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ink" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ima" and "ink" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "ima" or "ink" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ima" and "ink" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ima" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,397 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ima" and "ink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ink vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #17,397 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.