IosvsisstConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#6,549
“Ios” frequency rank
#4,128
“isst” frequency rank
10677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ios isst
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Io 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs essen

Where the eye mixes Ios and isst

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

3 ch
Ios
4 ch
isst

Look-alike desk: Ios vs isst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ios is [ˈiːos] while isst is [ɪst]. 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 10677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ios is recorded at frequency rank #6,549, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈiːos]. isst is at rank #4,128, 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 10677, this pair ranks #1,973,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ios vs isst

Shared letters: is. Private to "Ios": o. Private to "isst": t.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • isstisstt · ißt · sist

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ios" and "isst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ios" is a noun and "isst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Ios" vs "isst" - which ranks higher?
"isst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,128 in our German list, against #6,549 for "Ios". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ios" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "isst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,973,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ios" and "isst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IMs vs Ios". 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 #1,973,909 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