Which to use
“isses” is an abbrev and “Ists” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,635
- “isses” frequency rank
- #14,331
- “Ists” frequency rank
- 27966
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | isses | Ists |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ist es | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Ist |
Where the eye mixes isses and Ists
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. isses runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against Ists's 4 (VCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between isses and Ists
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: isses is [ˈɪsəs] while Ists is [ɪst͡s]. 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 (abbrev vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
isses is recorded at frequency rank #13,635, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ˈɪsəs]. 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 27966, this pair ranks #1,792,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of isses vs Ists
Shared letters: is. Private to "isses": e. Private to "Ists": t.
"isses" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "Ists" · 4 letters · shape VCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "isses" for "Ists" ever safe?
Frequency check: "isses" vs "Ists" - which ranks higher?
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 "isses" 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 #1,792,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "isses" 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 #1,792,848 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.