NCvsnurWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: NC is a noun, nur is a particle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“NC” is a noun and “nur” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,655
“NC” frequency rank
#40
“nur” frequency rank
19695
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature NC nur
Definition Numerus clausus generell: unterstreicht die Betonung oder Einschränkung der Satzteilaussage

Where the eye mixes NC and nur

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

2 ch
NC
3 ch
nur

Visual trap between NC and nur

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: NC is [ɛnˈtseː] while nur is [nuːɐ̯]. 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 (noun vs particle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

NC is recorded at frequency rank #19,655, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɛnˈtseː]. nur is at rank #40, tagged as aparticle, pronounced [nuːɐ̯].

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 19695, this pair ranks #1,905,616 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of NC vs nur

Shared letters: n. Private to "NC": c. Private to "nur": ru.

"NC" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "nur" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "NC" for "nur" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "NC" is a noun and "nur" a particle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "NC" or "nur" show up more?
"nur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40 in our German list, against #19,655 for "NC". 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 "NC" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,905,616 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "NC" and "nur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "NC vs nox". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,905,616 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