nachladenvsnachlegenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,104
“nachladen” frequency rank
#37,103
“nachlegen” frequency rank
86207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nachladen nachlegen
Definition eine Schusswaffe mit Munition versehen, nachdem die bisherige Munition aufgebraucht wurde mehr Material aufs Feuer legen, damit es weiterbrennt; mehr davon hinlegen

Where the eye mixes nachladen and nachlegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. nachladen and nachlegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
nachladen
9 ch
nachlegen

Why the eye confuses nachladen with nachlegen

A purely visual mix-up. nachladen ([ˈnaːxˌlaːdn̩]) 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 86207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nachladen is recorded at frequency rank #49,104, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌlaːdn̩]. 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 86207, this pair ranks #97,096 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nachladen vs nachlegen

Shared letters: acehln. Private to "nachladen": d. Private to "nachlegen": g.

"nachladen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "nachlegen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nachladen ← anchladen · nacchladen · nachalden · nachhladen · nachladden · nachladenn · nachladne · nachlaedn
  • nachlegen ← anchlegen · nacchlegen · nachelgen · nachhlegen · nachleegn · nachlegenn · nachleggen · nachlegne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nachladen" and "nachlegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaːxˌlaːdn̩] versus [ˈnaːxˌleːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "nachladen" or "nachlegen" show up more?
"nachlegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,103 in our German list, against #49,104 for "nachladen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nachladen" 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 #97,096 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nachladen" and "nachlegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nachlegen vs nahelegen". 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 #97,096 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