Which to use
“sick” is a verb and “sig” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,489
- “sick” frequency rank
- #33,297
- “sig” frequency rank
- 60786
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sick | sig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sicken | Reflexivpronomen der 3. Person Singular; sich |
Where the eye mixes sick and sig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sick vs sig
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sick is [zɪk] while sig is [ˈsɑj]. 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 (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sick is recorded at frequency rank #27,489, classified as averb, pronounced [zɪk]. sig is at rank #33,297, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈsɑj].
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 60786, this pair ranks #774,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sick vs sig
Shared letters: is. Private to "sick": ck. Private to "sig": g.
"sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sig" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sick ← isck · scik · sicck · sickk · sikc · ssick
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sick" and "sig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "sick" or "sig" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #774,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sick" and "sig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs sig". 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 #774,139 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.