Which to use
“ima” is a noun and “irai” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,435
- “ima” frequency rank
- #5,994
- “irai” frequency rank
- 42429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ima | irai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Maison. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif futur simple de aller. |
Where the eye mixes ima and irai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ima runs 3 letters (VCV) against irai's 4 (VCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ima and irai
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ima is \ima\ while irai is \i.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42429, 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\. irai is at rank #5,994, tagged as averb, pronounced \i.ʁe\.
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 42429, this pair ranks #225,656 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ima vs irai
Shared letters: ai. Private to "ima": m. Private to "irai": r.
"ima" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "irai" · 4 letters · shape VCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- irai ← iari · iria · irrai · riai
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ima" and "irai" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ima" vs "irai" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "irai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #225,656 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ima" and "irai" 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 #225,656 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.