weisvsWeizWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: weis is a verb, Weiz is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“weis” is a verb and “Weiz” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,848
“weis” frequency rank
#45,691
“Weiz” frequency rank
53539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weis Weiz
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs weisen Stadt in der Steiermark

Where the eye mixes weis and Weiz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
weis
4 ch
Weiz

Visual trap between weis and Weiz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weis is [vaɪ̯s] while Weiz is [vaɪ̯t͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “weis” becomes z in “Weiz”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weis is recorded at frequency rank #7,848, classified as averb, pronounced [vaɪ̯s]. Weiz is at rank #45,691, tagged as aname, pronounced [vaɪ̯t͡s].

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 53539, this pair ranks #1,053,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weis vs Weiz

Shared letters: eiw. Private to "weis": s. Private to "Weiz": z.

"weis" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Weiz" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weisewis · weiss · wesi · wies · wweis
  • Weizewiz · weizz · wezi · wiez · wweiz

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "weis" and "Weiz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weis" is a verb and "Weiz" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "weis" vs "Weiz" - which ranks higher?
"weis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,848 in our German list, against #45,691 for "Weiz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "weis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Weiz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,053,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weis" and "Weiz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weiz vs went". 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 #1,053,996 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