nagtvsnahmWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“nagt” and “nahm” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,816
“nagt” frequency rank
#936
“nahm” frequency rank
45752
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nagt nahm
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nagen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs nehmen

Where the eye mixes nagt and nahm

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. nagt and nahm follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
nagt
4 ch
nahm

Look-alike desk: nagt vs nahm

A purely visual mix-up. nagt ([naːkt]) and nahm ([naːm]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45752, 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]. nahm is at rank #936, tagged as averb, pronounced [naːm].

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 45752, this pair ranks #1,342,426 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nagt vs nahm

Shared letters: an. Private to "nagt": gt. Private to "nahm": hm.

"nagt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "nahm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nagt ← angt · naggt · nagtt · natg · ngat · nnagt
  • nahm ← anhm · nahhm · nahmm · namh · nham · nnahm

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nagt" and "nahm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([naːkt] versus [naːm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "nagt" or "nahm" show up more?
"nahm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #936 in our German list, against #44,816 for "nagt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nagt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nahm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,342,426 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nagt" and "nahm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs nagt". 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 #1,342,426 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