nähernvsNasenConfusable pair

Quick tell: nähern is a verb, Nasen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nähern” is a verb and “Nasen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,146
“nähern” frequency rank
#15,167
“Nasen” frequency rank
25313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nähern Nasen
Definition sich an etwas heranbewegen, näher herankommen an etwas Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Nase

Where the eye mixes nähern and Nasen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. nähern runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against Nasen's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
nähern
5 ch
Nasen

Look-alike desk: nähern vs Nasen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nähern is [ˈnɛːɐn] while Nasen is [ˈnaːzn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25313, 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]. Nasen is at rank #15,167, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnaːzn̩].

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 25313, this pair ranks #1,835,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nähern vs Nasen

Shared letters: en. Private to "nähern": hrä. Private to "Nasen": as.

"nähern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Nasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nasen ← ansen · naesn · nasenn · nasne · nnasen · nsaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nähern" for "Nasen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nähern" is a verb and "Nasen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "nähern" vs "Nasen" - which ranks higher?
"nähern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,146 in our German list, against #15,167 for "Nasen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "nähern" and "Nasen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nähern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nasen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,835,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nähern" and "Nasen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs Nasen". 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 #1,835,145 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