Which to use
“Nadel” and “Nadeln” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,904
- “Nadel” frequency rank
- #15,704
- “Nadeln” frequency rank
- 26608
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Nadel | Nadeln |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | längliches, dünnes Werkzeug mit Spitze, je nach Verwendungszweck unterschiedlich geformt | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Nadel |
Where the eye mixes Nadel and Nadeln
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Nadel runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Nadeln's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Nadel with Nadeln
A purely visual mix-up. Nadel ([ˈnaːdl̩]) and Nadeln ([ˈnaːdl̩n]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Nadel” sits inside “Nadeln”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Nadel is recorded at frequency rank #10,904, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnaːdl̩]. Nadeln is at rank #15,704, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnaːdl̩n].
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 26608, this pair ranks #1,815,417 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Nadel vs Nadeln
Shared letters: adeln. Private to "Nadel": -. Private to "Nadeln": -.
"Nadel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Nadeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Nadel" for "Nadeln" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Nadel" or "Nadeln"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Nadel" and "Nadeln" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Nadel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Nadeln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,815,417 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Nadel" and "Nadeln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nadeln vs nagen". 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 #1,815,417 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.