IchsvsissConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#6,807
“Ichs” frequency rank
#6,551
“iss” frequency rank
13358
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ichs iss
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Ich 2. Person Singular Imperativ des Verbs essen

Where the eye mixes Ichs and iss

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

4 ch
Ichs
3 ch
iss

Why the eye confuses Ichs with iss

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ichs is [ɪçs] while iss is [ɪs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13358, 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]. iss is at rank #6,551, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɪs].

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 13358, this pair ranks #1,958,499 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ichs vs iss

Shared letters: is. Private to "Ichs": ch. Private to "iss": -.

"Ichs" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "iss" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ichs" and "iss" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ichs" is a noun and "iss" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ichs" or "iss"?
"iss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,551 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

Eye-level mix-up between "Ichs" and "iss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ichs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "iss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,499 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ichs" and "iss" 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 #1,958,499 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