nachtsvsNahtConfusable pair

Quick tell: nachts is a adverb, Naht is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nachts” is an adverb and “Naht” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,165
“nachts” frequency rank
#12,136
“Naht” frequency rank
14301
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nachts Naht
Definition Zeitangabe: In der Nacht, während der Nacht Linie, wo sich zwei durch Nähen verbundene Stoffe berühren

Where the eye mixes nachts and Naht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. nachts runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against Naht's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
nachts
4 ch
Naht

Visual trap between nachts and Naht

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nachts is [naxt͡s] while Naht is [naːt]. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nachts is recorded at frequency rank #2,165, classified as anadv, pronounced [naxt͡s]. Naht is at rank #12,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced [naːt].

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 14301, this pair ranks #1,952,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nachts vs Naht

Shared letters: ahnt. Private to "nachts": cs. Private to "Naht": -.

"nachts" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "Naht" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nachts ← anchts · nacchts · nachhts · nachst · nachtss · nachtts · nacths · nahcts
  • Naht ← anht · nahht · nahtt · nath · nhat · nnaht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nachts" and "Naht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nachts" is an adverb and "Naht" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "nachts" or "Naht" show up more?
"nachts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,165 in our German list, against #12,136 for "Naht". 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 "nachts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Naht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,952,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nachts" and "Naht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagy vs Naht". 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 #1,952,170 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