nas vs Nässe, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#22,447
“nas” frequency rank: #25,692
“Nässe” frequency rank: 48139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nas	Nässe
Definition	Nase	nasse Beschaffenheit (der Umgebung), starke Feuchtigkeit

Where the eye mixes nas and Nässe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch

nas

5 ch

Nässe

Why the eye confuses nas with Nässe

A purely visual mix-up. nas ([nas]) and Nässe ([ˈnɛsə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nas is recorded at frequency rank #22,447, classified as anoun, pronounced [nas]. Nässe is at rank #25,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛsə].

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 48139, this pair ranks #1,259,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nas vs Nässe

Shared letters: ns. Private to "nas": a. Private to "Nässe": eä.

"nas" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Nässe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nas" for "Nässe" ever safe?

No. They are said differently ([nas] versus [ˈnɛsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "nas" or "Nässe"?

"nas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,447 in our German list, against #25,692 for "Nässe". 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 "nas" and "Nässe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "nas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "Nässe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,259,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"nas" and "Nässe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nässe vs nasses". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,259,385 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.