imamsvsitemsConfusable pair

Which to use

“imams” and “items” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,892
“imams” frequency rank
#25,024
“items” frequency rank
48916
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imams items
Definition Pluriel de imam. Pluriel de item.

Where the eye mixes imams and items

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
imams
5 ch
items

Visual trap between imams and items

A purely visual mix-up. imams (\i.mam\) and items (\i.tɛm\) 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 48916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imams is recorded at frequency rank #23,892, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.mam\. items is at rank #25,024, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.tɛm\.

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 48916, this pair ranks #175,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of imams vs items

Shared letters: ims. Private to "imams": a. Private to "items": et.

"imams" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "items" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imamsiamms · imamms · imamss · imasm · immams · immas · miams
  • itemsietms · itemms · itemss · itesm · ittems

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "imams" and "items" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\i.mam\ versus \i.tɛm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "imams" vs "items" - which ranks higher?
"imams" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,892 in our French list, against #25,024 for "items". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "imams" and "items" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "imams" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "items" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #175,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "imams" and "items" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "items vs ives". 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 #175,023 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list