nachladenvsnachlesenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,104
“nachladen” frequency rank
#9,422
“nachlesen” frequency rank
58526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nachladen nachlesen
Definition eine Schusswaffe mit Munition versehen, nachdem die bisherige Munition aufgebraucht wurde (noch einmal) (genau und sorgfältig) lesen; sich aus einem Text Information beschaffen

Where the eye mixes nachladen and nachlesen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. nachladen and nachlesen 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
nachlesen

Why the eye confuses nachladen with nachlesen

A purely visual mix-up. nachladen ([ˈnaːxˌlaːdn̩]) and nachlesen ([ˈnaːxˌleːzn̩]) 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 58526, 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]. nachlesen is at rank #9,422, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌleːzn̩].

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 58526, this pair ranks #859,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nachladen vs nachlesen

Shared letters: acehln. Private to "nachladen": d. Private to "nachlesen": s.

"nachladen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "nachlesen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nachladenanchladen · nacchladen · nachalden · nachhladen · nachladden · nachladenn · nachladne · nachlaedn
  • nachlesenanchlesen · nacchlesen · nachelsen · nachhlesen · nachleesn · nachlesenn · nachlesne · nachlessen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nachladen" and "nachlesen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaːxˌlaːdn̩] versus [ˈnaːxˌleːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "nachladen" or "nachlesen" show up more?
"nachlesen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,422 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nachladen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nachlesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #859,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nachladen" and "nachlesen" 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 #859,365 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