iravsissWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#18,290
“ira” frequency rank
#6,551
“iss” frequency rank
24841
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ira iss
Definition der Zorn, die Wut 2. Person Singular Imperativ des Verbs essen

Where the eye mixes ira and iss

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ira
3 ch
iss

Look-alike desk: ira vs iss

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ira is [ˈiːra] while iss is [ɪs]. 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 24841, 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]. iss is at rank #6,551, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɪs].

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 24841, this pair ranks #1,841,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ira vs iss

Shared letters: i. Private to "ira": ar. Private to "iss": s.

"ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "iss" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ira" and "iss" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ira" is a noun and "iss" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ira" or "iss"?
"iss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,551 in our German list, against #18,290 for "ira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ira" and "iss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "iss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,841,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ira" and "iss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IMs vs ira". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,841,900 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