Which to use
“ink” is a noun and “ist” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,363
- “ink” frequency rank
- #7
- “ist” frequency rank
- 45370
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ink | ist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tinte | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes ink and ist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ink vs ist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ink is [ɪŋk] 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ink is recorded at frequency rank #45,363, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɪŋk]. 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 45370, this pair ranks #1,355,293 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ink vs ist
Shared letters: i. Private to "ink": kn. Private to "ist": st.
"ink" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ist" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ink" and "ist" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "ink" or "ist" show up more?
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 "ink" 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 #1,355,293 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ink" and "ist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IMs vs ink". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,355,293 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.