nachsehenvsnachzusehenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,370
“nachsehen” frequency rank
#46,871
“nachzusehen” frequency rank
61241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nachsehen nachzusehen
Definition nach Information suchen, eine Recherche durchführen, etwas verifizieren erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs nachsehen

Where the eye mixes nachsehen and nachzusehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. nachsehen runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against nachzusehen's 11 (CVCCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
nachsehen
11 ch
nachzusehen

Visual trap between nachsehen and nachzusehen

A purely visual mix-up. nachsehen ([ˈnaːxˌzeːən]) and nachzusehen ([ˈnaːxt͡suˌzeːən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nachsehen is recorded at frequency rank #14,370, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌzeːən]. nachzusehen is at rank #46,871, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxt͡suˌzeːən].

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 61241, this pair ranks #757,059 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nachsehen vs nachzusehen

Shared letters: acehns. Private to "nachsehen": -. Private to "nachzusehen": uz.

"nachsehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "nachzusehen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nachsehen ← anchsehen · nacchsehen · nacheshen · nachhsehen · nachseehn · nachsehenn · nachsehhen · nachsehne
  • nachzusehen ← anchzusehen · nacchzusehen · nachhzusehen · nachuzsehen · nachzsuehen · nachzueshen · nachzuseehn · nachzusehenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nachsehen" and "nachzusehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaːxˌzeːən] versus [ˈnaːxt͡suˌzeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "nachsehen" vs "nachzusehen" - which ranks higher?
"nachsehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,370 in our German list, against #46,871 for "nachzusehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nachsehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nachzusehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #757,059 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nachsehen" and "nachzusehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nachziehen 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 #757,059 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