Which to use
“nach” is a preposition and “nicht” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35
- “nach” frequency rank
- #8
- “nicht” frequency rank
- 43
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nach | nicht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in Richtung (mit Dativ oder adverbialer Bestimmung des Ortes) | Partikel, die die Verneinung, die Negierung beziehungsweise die Negation ausdrückt |
Where the eye mixes nach and nicht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nach is [naːx] while nicht is [nɪçt]. 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 (preposition vs particle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nach is recorded at frequency rank #35, classified as aprep, pronounced [naːx]. nicht is at rank #8, tagged as aparticle, pronounced [nɪçt].
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 43, this pair ranks #2,006,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nach vs nicht
Shared letters: chn. Private to "nach": a. Private to "nicht": it.
"nach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "nicht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC