IsarvsistWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#19,264
“Isar” frequency rank
#7
“ist” frequency rank
19271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Isar ist
Definition 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. 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs sein

Where the eye mixes Isar and ist

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

4 ch
Isar
3 ch
ist

Why the eye confuses Isar with ist

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Isar is [ˈiːzaʁ] while ist 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Isar is recorded at frequency rank #19,264, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈiːzaʁ]. 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 19271, this pair ranks #1,910,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Isar vs ist

Shared letters: is. Private to "Isar": ar. Private to "ist": t.

"Isar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "ist" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Isariasr · isarr · isra · issar · siar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Isar" for "ist" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Isar" is a name and "ist" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Isar" vs "ist" - which ranks higher?
"ist" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7 in our German list, against #19,264 for "Isar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Isar" 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 #1,910,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Isar" and "ist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IPA vs Isar". 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 #1,910,118 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