Which to use
“Willi” is a name and “willst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,611
- “Willi” frequency rank
- #643
- “willst” frequency rank
- 7254
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Willi | willst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | männlicher Vorname | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wollen |
Where the eye mixes Willi and willst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Willi and willst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Willi is [ˈvɪli] while willst is [vɪlst]. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Willi is recorded at frequency rank #6,611, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈvɪli]. willst is at rank #643, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪlst].
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 7254, this pair ranks #1,988,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Willi vs willst
Shared letters: ilw. Private to "Willi": -. Private to "willst": st.
"Willi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "willst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Willi" and "willst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Willi" or "willst" show up more?
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 "Willi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "willst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,988,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Willi" and "willst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Willi vs Willich". 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 #1,988,840 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.