eiltvsesstWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“eilt” and “esst” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,395
“eilt” frequency rank
#29,114
“esst” frequency rank
45509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eilt esst
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs eilen 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs essen

Where the eye mixes eilt and esst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
eilt
4 ch
esst

Look-alike desk: eilt vs esst

A purely visual mix-up. eilt ([aɪ̯lt]) and esst ([ɛst]) 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 45509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eilt is recorded at frequency rank #16,395, classified as averb, pronounced [aɪ̯lt]. esst is at rank #29,114, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛst].

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 45509, this pair ranks #1,350,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eilt vs esst

Shared letters: et. Private to "eilt": il. Private to "esst": s.

"eilt" · 4 letters · shape VVCC  ·  "esst" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eilteillt · eiltt · eitl · elit · ielt
  • esstesstt · eßt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eilt" and "esst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aɪ̯lt] versus [ɛst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "eilt" or "esst" show up more?
"eilt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,395 in our German list, against #29,114 for "esst". 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 "eilt" and "esst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eilt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "esst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,350,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eilt" and "esst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Esra vs esst". 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 #1,350,596 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list