NarbevsNaseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,079
“Narbe” frequency rank
#1,981
“Nase” frequency rank
19060
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Narbe Nase
Definition verheilende Wunde oder sichtbares Überbleibsel einer Wunde ein Geruchs- und Atmungsorgan in der Mitte des Gesichts

Where the eye mixes Narbe and Nase

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

5 ch
Narbe
4 ch
Nase

Why the eye confuses Narbe with Nase

A purely visual mix-up. Narbe ([ˈnaʁbə]) and Nase ([ˈnaːzə]) 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 19060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Narbe is recorded at frequency rank #17,079, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnaʁbə]. Nase is at rank #1,981, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnaːzə].

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 19060, this pair ranks #1,912,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Narbe vs Nase

Shared letters: aen. Private to "Narbe": br. Private to "Nase": s.

"Narbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Nase" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Narbeanrbe · nabre · narbbe · nareb · narrbe · nnarbe · nrabe
  • Naseanse · naes · nasse · nnase · nsae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Narbe" and "Nase" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaʁbə] versus [ˈnaːzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Narbe" vs "Nase" - which ranks higher?
"Nase" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,981 in our German list, against #17,079 for "Narbe". 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 "Narbe" and "Nase" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Narbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,912,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Narbe" and "Nase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Narbe vs nerve". 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 #1,912,222 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