Which to use
“nach” is a preposition and “nächst” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35
- “nach” frequency rank
- #28,782
- “nächst” frequency rank
- 28817
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nach | nächst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in Richtung (mit Dativ oder adverbialer Bestimmung des Ortes) | in einer Reihenfolge nach dem aktuellen folgend |
Where the eye mixes nach and nächst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. nach runs 4 letters (CVCC) against nächst's 6 (CVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: nach vs nächst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nach is [naːx] while nächst is [nɛːçst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28817, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nach is recorded at frequency rank #35, classified as aprep, pronounced [naːx]. nächst is at rank #28,782, tagged as anadj, pronounced [nɛːçst].
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 28817, this pair ranks #1,778,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nach vs nächst
Shared letters: chn. Private to "nach": a. Private to "nächst": stä.
"nach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "nächst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nach ← anch · nacch · nachh · nahc · ncah · nnach
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nach" and "nächst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "nach" vs "nächst" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "nach" and "nächst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nächst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,778,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nach" and "nächst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nächst vs nächstem". 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 #1,778,066 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.