Which to use
“wird” is a verb and “wish” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43
- “wird” frequency rank
- #28,948
- “wish” frequency rank
- 28991
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wird | wish |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs werden | der Wunsch, das Verlangen |
Where the eye mixes wird and wish
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses wird with wish
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wird is [vɪʁt] while wish is [wɪʃ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wird is recorded at frequency rank #43, classified as averb, pronounced [vɪʁt]. wish is at rank #28,948, tagged as anoun, pronounced [wɪʃ].
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 28991, this pair ranks #1,774,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wird vs wish
Shared letters: iw. Private to "wird": dr. Private to "wish": hs.
"wird" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wish" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wird" and "wish" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "wird" or "wish" show up more?
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 "wird" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wish" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,774,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wird" and "wish" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wish vs witch". 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 #1,774,972 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.