nah vs Nähte, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nah” is an adjective and “Nähte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,353
“nah” frequency rank: #27,876
“Nähte” frequency rank: 30229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nah	Nähte
Definition	räumlich wenig entfernt	Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Naht

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nah and Nähte apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

nah

5 ch

Nähte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nah is [naː] while Nähte is [ˈnɛːtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nah is recorded at frequency rank #2,353, classified as anadj, pronounced [naː]. Nähte is at rank #27,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛːtə].

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 30229, this pair ranks #1,751,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nah vs Nähte

Shared letters: hn. Private to "nah": a. Private to "Nähte": etä.

"nah" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Nähte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

nah#2,353

Nähte#27,876

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nah" and "Nähte" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nah" is an adjective and "Nähte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nah" or "Nähte"?

"nah" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,353 in our German list, against #27,876 for "Nähte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering nah vs Nähte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “nah”; for a noun, it's “Nähte”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nah” entry
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