Which to use
“Nadel” is a noun and “names” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,904
- “Nadel” frequency rank
- #36,515
- “names” frequency rank
- 47419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Nadel | names |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | längliches, dünnes Werkzeug mit Spitze, je nach Verwendungszweck unterschiedlich geformt | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs name |
Where the eye mixes Nadel and names
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Nadel with names
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Nadel is [ˈnaːdl̩] while names is [neɪmz]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 47419, 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]. names is at rank #36,515, tagged as averb, pronounced [neɪmz].
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 47419, this pair ranks #1,284,910 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Nadel vs names
Shared letters: aen. Private to "Nadel": dl. Private to "names": ms.
"Nadel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "names" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Nadel" for "names" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Nadel" or "names" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Nadel" and "names" 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 "names" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,284,910 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Nadel" and "names" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs names". 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 #1,284,910 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.