Which to use
“nagen” and “neigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,922
- “nagen” frequency rank
- #12,766
- “neigen” frequency rank
- 62688
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nagen | neigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit den Zähnen kleine Stücke einer harten Substanz abbeißen, trennen | in Schräglage geraten; schräg werden |
Where the eye mixes nagen and neigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. nagen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against neigen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses nagen with neigen
A purely visual mix-up. nagen ([ˈnaːɡn̩]) and neigen ([ˈnaɪ̯ɡn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nagen is recorded at frequency rank #49,922, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːɡn̩]. neigen is at rank #12,766, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnaɪ̯ɡn̩].
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 62688, this pair ranks #703,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nagen vs neigen
Shared letters: egn. Private to "nagen": a. Private to "neigen": i.
"nagen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "neigen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nagen" for "neigen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "nagen" vs "neigen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "nagen" and "neigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "neigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #703,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nagen" and "neigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs nagy". 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 #703,709 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.