WasservswisseWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#415
“Wasser” frequency rank
#13,278
“wisse” frequency rank
13693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wasser wisse
Definition die chemische Verbindung (Diwasserstoffoxid), der Stoff H₂O in flüssigem Aggregatzustand, die aus Wasserstoff und Sauerstoff zusammengesetzt ist 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wissen

Where the eye mixes Wasser and wisse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Wasser
5 ch
wisse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wasser is [ˈvasɐ] while wisse is [ˈvɪsə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wasser is recorded at frequency rank #415, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvasɐ]. wisse is at rank #13,278, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪsə].

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 13693, this pair ranks #1,956,359 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wasser vs wisse

Shared letters: esw. Private to "Wasser": ar. Private to "wisse": i.

"Wasser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "wisse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wasserawsser · waser · wasesr · wasserr · wassre · waßer · wsaser · wwasser
  • wisseiwsse · wises · wiße · wsise · wwisse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wasser" and "wisse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wasser" is a noun and "wisse" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wasser" or "wisse"?
"Wasser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #415 in our German list, against #13,278 for "wisse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "Wasser" and "wisse". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Wasser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wisse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,956,359 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wasser" and "wisse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waste vs wisse". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list