IchsvsIosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,807
“Ichs” frequency rank
#6,549
“Ios” frequency rank
13356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ichs Ios
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Ich Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Io

Where the eye mixes Ichs and Ios

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

4 ch
Ichs
3 ch
Ios

Why the eye confuses Ichs with Ios

A purely visual mix-up. Ichs ([ɪçs]) and Ios ([ˈiːos]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ichs is recorded at frequency rank #6,807, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɪçs]. Ios is at rank #6,549, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈiːos].

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 13356, this pair ranks #1,958,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ichs vs Ios

Shared letters: is. Private to "Ichs": ch. Private to "Ios": o.

"Ichs" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "Ios" · 3 letters · shape VVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ichscihs · icchs · ichhs · ichss · icsh · ihcs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ichs" and "Ios" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɪçs] versus [ˈiːos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ichs" or "Ios"?
"Ios" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,549 in our German list, against #6,807 for "Ichs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ichs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ios" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ichs" and "Ios" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ichs vs IMs". 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 #1,958,508 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