neck vs nei, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#45,472
“neck” frequency rank: #38,309
“nei” frequency rank: 83781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	neck	nei
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs necken	verneinen, negieren, abstreiten

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

neck

3 ch

nei

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

neck and nei are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neck is recorded at frequency rank #45,472, classified as averb, pronounced [nɛk]. nei is at rank #38,309, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 83781, this pair ranks #134,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of neck vs nei

Shared letters: en. Private to "neck": ck. Private to "nei": i.

"neck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "nei" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

neck ← enck · ncek · necck · neckk · nekc · nneck

Frequency comparison

neck#45,472

nei#38,309

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "neck" and "nei" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "neck" or "nei"?

"nei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,309 in our German list, against #45,472 for "neck". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering neck vs nei

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “neck” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable