fischtvsfishTell them apart

Quick tell: fischt is a verb, fish is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fischt” is a verb and “fish” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,605
“fischt” frequency rank
#18,543
“fish” frequency rank
63148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fischt fish
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fischen Fisch

Where the eye mixes fischt and fish

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
fischt
4 ch
fish

Why the eye confuses fischt with fish

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fischt is [fɪʃt] while fish is [ˈfɪʃ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fischt is recorded at frequency rank #44,605, classified as averb, pronounced [fɪʃt]. fish is at rank #18,543, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɪʃ].

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 63148, this pair ranks #687,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fischt vs fish

Shared letters: fhis. Private to "fischt": ct. Private to "fish": -.

"fischt" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "fish" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fischtffischt · ficsht · fisccht · fischht · fischtt · fiscth · fishct · fisscht
  • fishffish · fihs · fishh · fissh · fsih · ifsh

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fischt" for "fish" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fischt" is a verb and "fish" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fischt" or "fish"?
"fish" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,543 in our German list, against #44,605 for "fischt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fischt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fish" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #687,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fischt" and "fish" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fischt vs fist". 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 #687,064 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