Which to use
“nachgehen” and “nachlegen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,135
- “nachgehen” frequency rank
- #37,103
- “nachlegen” frequency rank
- 49238
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nachgehen | nachlegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem folgen, hinter jemandem hergehen | mehr Material aufs Feuer legen, damit es weiterbrennt; mehr davon hinlegen |
Where the eye mixes nachgehen and nachlegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. nachgehen and nachlegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between nachgehen and nachlegen
A purely visual mix-up. nachgehen ([ˈnaːxˌɡeːən]) and nachlegen ([ˈnaːxˌleːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49238, 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]. nachlegen is at rank #37,103, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌleːɡn̩].
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 49238, this pair ranks #1,218,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nachgehen vs nachlegen
Shared letters: aceghn. Private to "nachgehen": -. Private to "nachlegen": l.
"nachgehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "nachlegen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nachgehen" for "nachlegen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "nachgehen" or "nachlegen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "nachgehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nachlegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,218,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nachgehen" and "nachlegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nachladen vs nachlegen". 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 #1,218,850 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.