jagvsJobWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#43,996
“jag” frequency rank
#718
“Job” frequency rank
44714
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature jag Job
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs jagen Arbeitsplatz, Stellung (Anstellung) für eine (vorübergehende) einträgliche Beschäftigung zum Zweck des Gelderwerbs

Where the eye mixes jag and Job

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. jag and Job follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
jag
3 ch
Job

Look-alike desk: jag vs Job

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: jag is [jaːk] while Job is [d͡ʒɔp]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jag is recorded at frequency rank #43,996, classified as averb, pronounced [jaːk]. Job is at rank #718, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d͡ʒɔp].

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 44714, this pair ranks #1,377,126 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of jag vs Job

Shared letters: j. Private to "jag": ag. Private to "Job": bo.

"jag" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Job" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "jag" for "Job" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "jag" is a verb and "Job" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "jag" or "Job" show up more?
"Job" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #718 in our German list, against #43,996 for "jag". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "jag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Job" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,377,126 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "jag" and "Job" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jag vs jn". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,377,126 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