Which to use
“neck” is a verb and “nein” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,472
- “neck” frequency rank
- #281
- “nein” frequency rank
- 45753
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | neck | nein |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs necken | Partikel, die Ablehnung, Verneinung, Negation, Widerspruch bekundet, gewöhnlich auf eine Frage |
Where the eye mixes neck and nein
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses neck with nein
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: neck is [nɛk] while nein is [naɪ̯n]. 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 (verb vs particle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45753, 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]. nein is at rank #281, tagged as aparticle, pronounced [naɪ̯n].
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 45753, this pair ranks #1,342,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of neck vs nein
Shared letters: en. Private to "neck": ck. Private to "nein": i.
"neck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "nein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "neck" and "nein" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "neck" or "nein" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "neck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nein" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,342,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "neck" and "nein" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "neck vs nei". 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 #1,342,392 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.