Which to use
“ick” is a pronoun and “ist” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,183
- “ick” frequency rank
- #7
- “ist” frequency rank
- 16190
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ick | ist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unbetontes „ich“ | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes ick and ist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ick with ist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ick is [ɪk] while ist is [ɪst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ick is recorded at frequency rank #16,183, classified as apron, pronounced [ɪk]. ist is at rank #7, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɪst].
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 16190, this pair ranks #1,937,838 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ick vs ist
Shared letters: i. Private to "ick": ck. Private to "ist": st.
"ick" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ist" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ick" and "ist" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "ick" or "ist" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ick" and "ist" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,937,838 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ick" and "ist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ick vs IMs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,937,838 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.