Which to use
“näher” is an unknown and “names” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,564
- “näher” frequency rank
- #36,515
- “names” frequency rank
- 38079
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | näher | names |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Komparativ von nah | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs name |
Where the eye mixes näher and names
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. näher and names follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between näher and names
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: näher is [ˈnɛːɐ] while names is [neɪmz]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
näher is recorded at frequency rank #1,564, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈnɛːɐ]. 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 38079, this pair ranks #1,573,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of näher vs names
Shared letters: en. Private to "näher": hrä. Private to "names": ams.
"näher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "names" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- names ← anmes · naems · namess · nammes · namse · nmaes · nnames
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "näher" and "names" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "näher" or "names" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "näher" and "names" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "näher" 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 #1,573,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "näher" 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 #1,573,344 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.