Which to use
“ill” is an adverb and “ist” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,175
- “ill” frequency rank
- #7
- “ist” frequency rank
- 25182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ill | ist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schlecht, falsch | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes ill and ist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between ill and ist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ill is [ɪl] 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 (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ill is recorded at frequency rank #25,175, classified as anadv, pronounced [ɪl]. 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 25182, this pair ranks #1,836,999 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ill vs ist
Shared letters: i. Private to "ill": l. Private to "ist": st.
"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ist" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ill" for "ist" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ill" or "ist" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ill" and "ist" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" 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 #1,836,999 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ill" and "ist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ill vs IMs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,836,999 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.