nähernvsnährtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,146
“nähern” frequency rank
#34,288
“nährt” frequency rank
44434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nähern nährt
Definition sich an etwas heranbewegen, näher herankommen an etwas 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nähren

Where the eye mixes nähern and nährt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. nähern runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against nährt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
nähern
5 ch
nährt

Why the eye confuses nähern with nährt

A purely visual mix-up. nähern ([ˈnɛːɐn]) and nährt ([nɛːɐ̯t]) 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 44434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nähern is recorded at frequency rank #10,146, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnɛːɐn]. nährt is at rank #34,288, tagged as averb, pronounced [nɛːɐ̯t].

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 44434, this pair ranks #1,386,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nähern vs nährt

Shared letters: hnrä. Private to "nähern": e. Private to "nährt": t.

"nähern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "nährt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nähern" for "nährt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnɛːɐn] versus [nɛːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "nähern" or "nährt" show up more?
"nähern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,146 in our German list, against #34,288 for "nährt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nähern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nährt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,386,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nähern" and "nährt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagt vs nährt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,386,311 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