Which to use
“isle” is a noun and “ist” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,260
- “isle” frequency rank
- #7
- “ist” frequency rank
- 41267
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | isle | ist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Insel oder kleine Insel | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes isle and ist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between isle and ist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: isle is [aɪl] 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
isle is recorded at frequency rank #41,260, classified as anoun, pronounced [aɪl]. 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 41267, this pair ranks #1,484,500 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of isle vs ist
Shared letters: is. Private to "isle": el. Private to "ist": t.
"isle" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ist" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- isle ← isel · islle · issle · sile
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "isle" and "ist" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "isle" or "ist"?
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 "isle" 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 #1,484,500 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "isle" and "ist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ile vs isle". 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 #1,484,500 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.