washvsWischWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#44,357
“wash” frequency rank
#27,137
“Wisch” frequency rank
71494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wash Wisch
Definition waschen, säubern Schriftstück, das als wertlos betrachtet wird, häufig von Behörden und offiziellen Stellen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wash and Wisch apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
wash
5 ch
Wisch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wash is [wɒʃ] while Wisch is [vɪʃ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wash is recorded at frequency rank #44,357, classified as averb, pronounced [wɒʃ]. Wisch is at rank #27,137, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vɪʃ].

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 71494, this pair ranks #415,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wash vs Wisch

Shared letters: hsw. Private to "wash": a. Private to "Wisch": ci.

"wash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Wisch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • washawsh · wahs · washh · wassh · wsah · wwash
  • Wischiwsch · wicsh · wiscch · wischh · wishc · wissch · wsich · wwisch

Frequency comparison

wash#44,357
Wisch#27,137

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wash" and "Wisch" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wash" is a verb and "Wisch" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wash" or "Wisch"?
"Wisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,137 in our German list, against #44,357 for "wash". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wash vs Wisch

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “wash”; for a noun, it's “Wisch”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wash” 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