nachgelesenvsnachzulesenTell them apart

Which to use

“nachgelesen” and “nachzulesen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,718
“nachgelesen” frequency rank
#22,831
“nachzulesen” frequency rank
63549
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nachgelesen nachzulesen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs nachlesen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs nachlesen

Where the eye mixes nachgelesen and nachzulesen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. nachgelesen and nachzulesen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
nachgelesen
11 ch
nachzulesen

Visual trap between nachgelesen and nachzulesen

A purely visual mix-up. nachgelesen ([ˈnaːxɡəˌleːzn̩]) and nachzulesen ([ˈnaːxt͡suˌleːzn̩]) 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 63549, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nachgelesen is recorded at frequency rank #40,718, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxɡəˌleːzn̩]. nachzulesen is at rank #22,831, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxt͡suˌleːzn̩].

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 63549, this pair ranks #672,872 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nachgelesen vs nachzulesen

Shared letters: acehlns. Private to "nachgelesen": g. Private to "nachzulesen": uz.

"nachgelesen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC  ·  "nachzulesen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nachgelesenanchgelesen · nacchgelesen · nacghelesen · nacheglesen · nachgeelsen · nachgeleesn · nachgelesenn · nachgelesne
  • nachzulesenanchzulesen · nacchzulesen · nachhzulesen · nachuzlesen · nachzluesen · nachzuelsen · nachzuleesn · nachzulesenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nachgelesen" for "nachzulesen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaːxɡəˌleːzn̩] versus [ˈnaːxt͡suˌleːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nachgelesen" or "nachzulesen"?
"nachzulesen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,831 in our German list, against #40,718 for "nachgelesen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "nachgelesen" and "nachzulesen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nachgelesen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nachzulesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #672,872 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nachgelesen" and "nachzulesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nachgegeben vs nachgelesen". 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 #672,872 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list