thing
[θɪŋ]
The verdict
“thing” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #18,088 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #18,088
- frequency rank, German
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - ein materielles Objekt, ohne Bewusstsein
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | thing |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [θɪŋ] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #18,088 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thing” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for thing is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [θɪŋ]. Corpus data places it at rank #18,088 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for thing, with forms such as "hting", "thhing", and "thign". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "this", "Tina", "Thun", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is thing, spelled T-H-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1ein materielles Objekt, ohne Bewusstsein
- 2ein Wesen oder eine Existenz die nicht näher spezifiziert oder genau beschrieben werden kann
- 3eine Angelegenheit, Anliegen, Problem oder Faktor
- 4eine Handlung, Tat oder ein Verhalten
- 5was immer besessen werden kann, zum Beispiel Kleidung, Besitztümer oder Ausrüstung
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hting,thhing,thign,thingg,thinng,thnig,tihng,tthing
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of thing - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “thing”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is T-H-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [θɪŋ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “this” - see the side-by-side comparison. thing vs this
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.