nagtvsnagyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nagt is a verb, nagy is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nagt” is a verb and “nagy” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,816
“nagt” frequency rank
#49,111
“nagy” frequency rank
93927
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nagt nagy
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nagen groß

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nagt and nagy apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
nagt
4 ch
nagy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nagt is [naːkt] while nagy is [nɒɟ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - t in “nagt” becomes y in “nagy”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nagt is recorded at frequency rank #44,816, classified as averb, pronounced [naːkt]. nagy is at rank #49,111, tagged as anadj, pronounced [nɒɟ].

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 93927, this pair ranks #19,774 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nagt vs nagy

Shared letters: agn. Private to "nagt": t. Private to "nagy": y.

"nagt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "nagy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nagtangt · naggt · nagtt · natg · ngat · nnagt
  • nagyangy · naggy · nagyy · nayg · ngay · nnagy

Frequency comparison

nagt#44,816
nagy#49,111

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nagt" and "nagy" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nagt" is a verb and "nagy" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nagt" or "nagy"?
"nagt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,816 in our German list, against #49,111 for "nagy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nagt vs nagy

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “nagt”; for an adjective, it's “nagy”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nagt” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list