nächstevsNächteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nächste is a adjective, Nächte is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nächste” is an adjective and “Nächte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#721
“nächste” frequency rank
#6,335
“Nächte” frequency rank
7056
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nächste Nächte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Superlativ der starken Flexion des Adjektivs nah / nahe Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Nacht

Where the eye mixes nächste and Nächte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. nächste runs 7 letters (CVCCCCV) against Nächte's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
nächste
6 ch
Nächte

Look-alike desk: nächste vs Nächte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nächste is [ˈnɛːçstə] while Nächte is [ˈnɛçtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nächste is recorded at frequency rank #721, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɛːçstə]. Nächte is at rank #6,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛçtə].

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 7056, this pair ranks #1,989,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nächste vs Nächte

Shared letters: cehntä. Private to "nächste": s. Private to "Nächte": -.

"nächste" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV  ·  "Nächte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nächste" and "Nächte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nächste" is an adjective and "Nächte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nächste" or "Nächte"?
"nächste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #721 in our German list, against #6,335 for "Nächte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nächste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nächte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,989,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nächste" and "Nächte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nächstem vs Nächte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,989,535 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