Which to use
“ie” is a noun and “imi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,130
- “ie” frequency rank
- #47,938
- “imi” frequency rank
- 75068
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ie | imi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | água (H₂0). | terceira pessoa do singular do passado do indicativo do verbo imeä: |
Where the eye mixes ie and imi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ie runs 2 letters (VV) against imi's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ie and imi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ie is /ˈi.e/, /ˈi.ɛ/ while imi is /ˈi.mi/. 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 75068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ie is recorded at frequency rank #27,130, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈi.e/, /ˈi.ɛ/. imi is at rank #47,938, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈi.mi/.
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 75068, this pair ranks #2,377 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ie vs imi
Shared letters: i. Private to "ie": e. Private to "imi": m.
"ie" · 2 letters · shape VV · "imi" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ie" and "imi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ie" or "imi" show up more?
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 "ie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "imi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,377 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ie" and "imi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imi vs ino". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,377 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.