Which to use
“nachlegen” and “nachsehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,103
- “nachlegen” frequency rank
- #14,370
- “nachsehen” frequency rank
- 51473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nachlegen | nachsehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mehr Material aufs Feuer legen, damit es weiterbrennt; mehr davon hinlegen | nach Information suchen, eine Recherche durchführen, etwas verifizieren |
Where the eye mixes nachlegen and nachsehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. nachlegen 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 nachlegen with nachsehen
A purely visual mix-up. nachlegen ([ˈnaːxˌleːɡn̩]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nachlegen is recorded at frequency rank #37,103, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌleːɡn̩]. 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 51473, this pair ranks #1,134,217 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nachlegen vs nachsehen
Shared letters: acehn. Private to "nachlegen": gl. Private to "nachsehen": s.
"nachlegen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "nachsehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nachlegen" and "nachsehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "nachlegen" or "nachsehen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "nachlegen" 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 #1,134,217 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nachlegen" and "nachsehen" 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 #1,134,217 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.