wishvswisstWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#28,948
“wish” frequency rank
#3,497
“wisst” frequency rank
32445
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wish wisst
Definition der Wunsch, das Verlangen 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wissen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wish and wisst apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
wish
5 ch
wisst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wish is [wɪʃ] while wisst is [vɪst]. 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 32445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wish is recorded at frequency rank #28,948, classified as anoun, pronounced [wɪʃ]. wisst is at rank #3,497, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪst].

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 32445, this pair ranks #1,707,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wish vs wisst

Shared letters: isw. Private to "wish": h. Private to "wisst": t.

"wish" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "wisst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wishiwsh · wihs · wishh · wissh · wsih · wwish
  • wisstiwsst · wisstt · wist · wists · wißt · wsist · wwisst

Frequency comparison

wish#28,948
wisst#3,497

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wish" and "wisst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wish" is a noun and "wisst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wish" or "wisst"?
"wisst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,497 in our German list, against #28,948 for "wish". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wish vs wisst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “wish”; for a verb, it's “wisst”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wish” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list