nebstvsnettWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: nebst is a preposition, nett is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nebst” is a preposition and “nett” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,425
“nebst” frequency rank
#1,706
“nett” frequency rank
10131
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nebst nett
Definition mit Dativ, veraltend: zusammen mit etwas oder jemandem lieb, liebenswürdig, angenehm

Where the eye mixes nebst and nett

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

5 ch
nebst
4 ch
nett

Visual trap between nebst and nett

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nebst is [neːpst] while nett is [nɛt]. 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 (preposition vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nebst is recorded at frequency rank #8,425, classified as aprep, pronounced [neːpst]. nett is at rank #1,706, tagged as anadj, pronounced [nɛt].

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 10131, this pair ranks #1,976,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nebst vs nett

Shared letters: ent. Private to "nebst": bs. Private to "nett": -.

"nebst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "nett" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nebstenbst · nbest · nebbst · nebsst · nebstt · nebts · nesbt · nnebst
  • nettentt · nnett · ntet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nebst" for "nett" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nebst" is a preposition and "nett" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "nebst" or "nett" show up more?
"nett" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,706 in our German list, against #8,425 for "nebst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nebst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nett" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,976,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nebst" and "nett" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nebst vs nervst". 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 #1,976,632 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