willstvswirstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“willst” and “wirst” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#643
“willst” frequency rank
#983
“wirst” frequency rank
1626
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature willst wirst
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wollen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs werden

Where the eye mixes willst and wirst

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

6 ch
willst
5 ch
wirst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. willst ([vɪlst]) and wirst ([vɪʁst]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

willst is recorded at frequency rank #643, classified as averb, pronounced [vɪlst]. wirst is at rank #983, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪʁst].

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 1626, this pair ranks #2,004,001 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of willst vs wirst

Shared letters: istw. Private to "willst": l. Private to "wirst": r.

"willst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "wirst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • willstiwllst · willsst · willstt · willts · wilslt · wilst · wlilst · wwillst
  • wirstiwrst · wirrst · wirsst · wirstt · wirts · wisrt · wrist · wwirst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "willst" and "wirst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([vɪlst] versus [vɪʁst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "willst" or "wirst"?
"willst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #643 in our German list, against #983 for "wirst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "willst" and "wirst". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "willst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wirst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,004,001 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "willst" and "wirst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirst vs wit". 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