nächstevsNähteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#721
“nächste” frequency rank
#27,876
“Nähte” frequency rank
28597
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes nächste and Nähte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. nächste runs 7 letters (CVCCCCV) against Nähte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
nächste
5 ch
Nähte

Why the eye confuses nächste with Nähte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nächste is [ˈnɛːçstə] while Nähte is [ˈnɛːtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 28597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nächste is recorded at frequency rank #721, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɛːçstə]. Nähte is at rank #27,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛːtə].

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 28597, this pair ranks #1,781,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nächste vs Nähte

Shared letters: ehntä. Private to "nächste": cs. Private to "Nähte": -.

"nächste" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV  ·  "Nähte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nächste" for "Nähte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nächste" is an adjective and "Nähte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nächste" or "Nähte"?
"nächste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #721 in our German list, against #27,876 for "Nähte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "nächste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nähte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,781,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nächste" and "Nähte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagt vs Nähte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,781,931 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