IsarvsIstsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#19,264
“Isar” frequency rank
#14,331
“Ists” frequency rank
33595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Isar Ists
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. Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Ist

Where the eye mixes Isar and Ists

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

4 ch
Isar
4 ch
Ists

Visual trap between Isar and Ists

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Isar is [ˈiːzaʁ] while Ists is [ɪst͡s]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33595, 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]. Ists is at rank #14,331, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɪst͡s].

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 33595, this pair ranks #1,682,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Isar vs Ists

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

"Isar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "Ists" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Isariasr · isarr · isra · issar · siar
  • Istsissts · istss · istts · itss · sits

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Isar" for "Ists" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Isar" is a name and "Ists" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Isar" or "Ists"?
"Ists" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,331 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.

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 "Isar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ists" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,682,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Isar" and "Ists" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IMs vs Ists". 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 #1,682,393 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