iravsIsarConfusable pair

Quick tell: ira is a noun, Isar is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ira” is a noun and “Isar” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,290
“ira” frequency rank
#19,264
“Isar” frequency rank
37554
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ira Isar
Definition der Zorn, die Wut Der zweitgrößte rechte Nebenfluss der oberen Donau; entspringt im Karwendelgebirge, fließt südlich von München in einem tief eingeschnittenen Flussbett, nördlich von München auf der bayrischen Hochfläche, mündet nach 295 km Flusslauf bei Deggendorf in die Donau.

Where the eye mixes ira and Isar

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

3 ch
ira
4 ch
Isar

Visual trap between ira and Isar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ira is [ˈiːra] while Isar is [ˈiːzaʁ]. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ira is recorded at frequency rank #18,290, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈiːra]. Isar is at rank #19,264, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈiːzaʁ].

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 37554, this pair ranks #1,587,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ira vs Isar

Shared letters: air. Private to "ira": -. Private to "Isar": s.

"ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "Isar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Isariasr · isarr · isra · issar · siar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ira" and "Isar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ira" is a noun and "Isar" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "ira" or "Isar" show up more?
"ira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,290 in our German list, against #19,264 for "Isar". 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 "ira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Isar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,587,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ira" and "Isar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IMs vs ira". 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 #1,587,167 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