istvsiusWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#7
“ist” frequency rank
#48,256
“ius” frequency rank
48263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ist ius
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs sein Recht (Satzung, Inbegriff von Gesetzen und Verordnungen)

Letter map: ist vs ius

Shared letters muted; letters that set ist and ius apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
ist
3 ch
ius

Grammar separator: ist vs ius

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ist is averb and iusanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ist is recorded at frequency rank #7, classified as averb, pronounced [ɪst]. ius is at rank #48,256, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 48263, this pair ranks #1,254,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ist vs ius

Shared letters: is. Private to "ist": t. Private to "ius": u.

"ist" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "ius" · 3 letters · shape VVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ist" and "ius" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ist" is a verb and "ius" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ist" vs "ius" - which ranks higher?
"ist" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7 in our German list, against #48,256 for "ius". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ist" and "ius".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ius" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,254,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ist" and "ius" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ius vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,254,965 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