NachtvsnährtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Nacht is a noun, nährt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Nacht” is a noun and “nährt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#384
“Nacht” frequency rank
#34,288
“nährt” frequency rank
34672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nacht nährt
Definition Zeit der Dunkelheit, zwischen Abenddämmerung und Morgengrauen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nähren

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Nacht and nährt apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Nacht
5 ch
nährt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Nacht is [naxt] while nährt is [nɛːɐ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nacht is recorded at frequency rank #384, classified as anoun, pronounced [naxt]. nährt is at rank #34,288, tagged as averb, pronounced [nɛːɐ̯t].

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 34672, this pair ranks #1,657,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Nacht vs nährt

Shared letters: hnt. Private to "Nacht": ac. Private to "nährt": .

"Nacht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "nährt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nachtancht · naccht · nachht · nachtt · nacth · nahct · ncaht · nnacht

Frequency comparison

Nacht#384
nährt#34,288

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Nacht" and "nährt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Nacht" is a noun and "nährt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Nacht" or "nährt"?
"Nacht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #384 in our German list, against #34,288 for "nährt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Nacht vs nährt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Nacht”; for a verb, it's “nährt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Nacht” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list