nearvsneeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: near is a adjective, nee is a particle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“near” is an adjective and “nee” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,730
“near” frequency rank
#3,609
“nee” frequency rank
37339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature near nee
Definition nahe nein

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set near and nee apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
near
3 ch
nee

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: near is anadjective and neeaparticle. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

near is recorded at frequency rank #33,730, classified as anadj, pronounced […]. nee is at rank #3,609, tagged as aparticle, pronounced [neː].

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 37339, this pair ranks #1,592,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of near vs nee

Shared letters: en. Private to "near": ar. Private to "nee": -.

"near" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "nee" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nearenar · naer · nearr · nera · nnear

Frequency comparison

near#33,730
nee#3,609

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "near" and "nee" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "near" is an adjective and "nee" a particle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "near" or "nee"?
"nee" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,609 in our German list, against #33,730 for "near". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering near vs nee

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “near”; for a particle, it's “nee”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “near” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list