Which to use
“nachgehen” and “nachgeht” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,135
- “nachgehen” frequency rank
- #41,357
- “nachgeht” frequency rank
- 53492
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nachgehen | nachgeht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem folgen, hinter jemandem hergehen | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs nachgehen |
Where the eye mixes nachgehen and nachgeht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. nachgehen runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against nachgeht's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between nachgehen and nachgeht
A purely visual mix-up. nachgehen ([ˈnaːxˌɡeːən]) and nachgeht ([ˈnaːxˌɡeːt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nachgehen is recorded at frequency rank #12,135, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌɡeːən]. nachgeht is at rank #41,357, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌɡeːt].
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 53492, this pair ranks #1,055,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nachgehen vs nachgeht
Shared letters: aceghn. Private to "nachgehen": -. Private to "nachgeht": t.
"nachgehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "nachgeht" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nachgehen" for "nachgeht" ever safe?
Which is more common, "nachgehen" or "nachgeht"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "nachgehen" and "nachgeht" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nachgehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nachgeht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,055,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nachgehen" and "nachgeht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nachgeht vs Nachwelt". 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 #1,055,911 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.