Which to use
“ill” is an adjective and “imi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,899
- “ill” frequency rank
- #47,938
- “imi” frequency rank
- 92837
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ill | imi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | doente | terceira pessoa do singular do passado do indicativo do verbo imeä: |
Where the eye mixes ill and imi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between ill and imi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ill is /ɪl/ while imi is /ˈi.mi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 92837, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ill is recorded at frequency rank #44,899, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪl/. 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 92837, this pair ranks #155 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ill vs imi
Shared letters: i. Private to "ill": l. Private to "imi": m.
"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "imi" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ill" and "imi" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ill" or "imi"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" 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 #155 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ill" and "imi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imi vs ino". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #155 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.