NähtenvsNarbenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,834
“Nähten” frequency rank
#13,209
“Narben” frequency rank
48043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nähten Narben
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Naht Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Narbe

Where the eye mixes Nähten and Narben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Nähten
6 ch
Narben

Visual trap between Nähten and Narben

A purely visual mix-up. Nähten ([ˈnɛːtn̩]) and Narben ([ˈnaʁbn̩]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nähten is recorded at frequency rank #34,834, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛːtn̩]. Narben is at rank #13,209, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnaʁbn̩].

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 48043, this pair ranks #1,262,880 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Nähten vs Narben

Shared letters: en. Private to "Nähten": htä. Private to "Narben": abr.

"Nähten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Narben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Narbenanrben · nabren · narbben · narbenn · narbne · narebn · narrben · nnarben

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Nähten" and "Narben" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnɛːtn̩] versus [ˈnaʁbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Nähten" vs "Narben" - which ranks higher?
"Narben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,209 in our German list, against #34,834 for "Nähten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nähten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Narben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,262,880 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nähten" and "Narben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs Nähten". 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 #1,262,880 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