imagevsimagemWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“image” and “imagem” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,260
“image” frequency rank
#601
“imagem” frequency rank
12861
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature image imagem
Definition imagem, figura, fotografia representação de uma pessoa ou objeto

Where the eye mixes image and imagem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
image
6 ch
imagem

Look-alike desk: image vs imagem

A purely visual mix-up. image (/ˈɪmɪdʒ/) and imagem (/i.ˈma.ʒɐ̃j̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “image” sits inside “imagem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12861, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

image is recorded at frequency rank #12,260, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪmɪdʒ/. imagem is at rank #601, tagged as anoun, pronounced /i.ˈma.ʒɐ̃j̃/.

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 12861, this pair ranks #59,612 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of image vs imagem

Shared letters: aegim. Private to "image": -. Private to "imagem": -.

"image" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "imagem" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imageiamge · imaeg · imagge · imgae · immage · miage
  • imagemiamgem · imaegm · imagemm · imaggem · imagme · imgaem · immagem · miagem

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "image" for "imagem" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɪmɪdʒ/ versus /i.ˈma.ʒɐ̃j̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "image" or "imagem" show up more?
"imagem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #601 in our Portuguese list, against #12,260 for "image". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "image" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "imagem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,612 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "image" and "imagem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "image vs Imam". 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 #59,612 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list