Which to use
“nachgehen” and “nachsehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,135
- “nachgehen” frequency rank
- #14,370
- “nachsehen” frequency rank
- 26505
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nachgehen | nachsehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem folgen, hinter jemandem hergehen | nach Information suchen, eine Recherche durchführen, etwas verifizieren |
Where the eye mixes nachgehen and nachsehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. nachgehen and nachsehen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses nachgehen with nachsehen
A purely visual mix-up. nachgehen ([ˈnaːxˌɡeːən]) and nachsehen ([ˈnaːxˌzeːən]) 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 a single letter - g in “nachgehen” becomes s in “nachsehen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26505, 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]. nachsehen is at rank #14,370, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌzeːən].
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 26505, this pair ranks #1,817,016 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nachgehen vs nachsehen
Shared letters: acehn. Private to "nachgehen": g. Private to "nachsehen": s.
"nachgehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "nachsehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nachgehen" and "nachsehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "nachgehen" or "nachsehen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "nachgehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nachsehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,817,016 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nachgehen" and "nachsehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nachsehen vs nachzusehen". 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 #1,817,016 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.