istvsitaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#7
“ist” frequency rank
#30,135
“ita” frequency rank
30142
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ist ita
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs sein Personalpronomen 3. Person Femininum Singular; sie

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ist and ita apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ist
3 ch
ita

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

ist and ita form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30142, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ist is recorded at frequency rank #7, classified as averb, pronounced [ɪst]. ita is at rank #30,135, tagged as apron, pronounced [ítá].

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 30142, this pair ranks #1,753,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

ist#7
ita#30,135

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ist" and "ita" be used interchangeably?
No, "ist" and "ita" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering ist vs ita

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ist”; for a pronoun, it's “ita”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ist” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list