NächtevsNichteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,335
“Nächte” frequency rank
#12,354
“Nichte” frequency rank
18689
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nächte Nichte
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Nacht Tochter der Schwester oder des Bruders , im weiteren Sinne auch des Schwagers oder der Schwägerin

Where the eye mixes Nächte and Nichte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Nächte and Nichte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Nächte
6 ch
Nichte

Why the eye confuses Nächte with Nichte

A purely visual mix-up. Nächte ([ˈnɛçtə]) and Nichte ([ˈnɪçtə]) 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 a single letter - ä in “Nächte” becomes i in “Nichte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nächte is recorded at frequency rank #6,335, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛçtə]. Nichte is at rank #12,354, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɪçtə].

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 18689, this pair ranks #1,915,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Nächte vs Nichte

Shared letters: cehnt. Private to "Nächte": ä. Private to "Nichte": i.

"Nächte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "Nichte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nichte ← inchte · ncihte · nicchte · nichet · nichhte · nichtte · nicthe · nihcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Nächte" and "Nichte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnɛçtə] versus [ˈnɪçtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Nächte" or "Nichte" show up more?
"Nächte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,335 in our German list, against #12,354 for "Nichte". 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 "Nächte" and "Nichte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nächte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nichte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,915,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nächte" and "Nichte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nächstem vs Nächte". 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 #1,915,843 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