nasvsneuWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: nas is a noun, neu is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nas” is a noun and “neu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,447
“nas” frequency rank
#385
“neu” frequency rank
22832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nas neu
Definition Nase vor kurzer Zeit gemacht oder geschehen

Where the eye mixes nas and neu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
nas
3 ch
neu

Look-alike desk: nas vs neu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nas is [nas] while neu is [nɔɪ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22832, 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]. neu is at rank #385, tagged as anadj, pronounced [nɔɪ̯].

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 22832, this pair ranks #1,869,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nas vs neu

Shared letters: n. Private to "nas": as. Private to "neu": eu.

"nas" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "neu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nas" and "neu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nas" is a noun and "neu" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nas" or "neu"?
"neu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #385 in our German list, against #22,447 for "nas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "neu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,869,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nas" and "neu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagy vs nas". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,869,188 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