NegervsNeunerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,351
“Neger” frequency rank
#49,119
“Neuner” frequency rank
61470
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Neger Neuner
Definition ein dunkelhäutiger Mensch subsaharischer Abstammung etwas mit der Nummer 9

Where the eye mixes Neger and Neuner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Neger runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Neuner's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Neger
6 ch
Neuner

Why the eye confuses Neger with Neuner

A purely visual mix-up. Neger ([ˈneːɡɐ]) and Neuner ([ˈnɔɪ̯nɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Neger is recorded at frequency rank #12,351, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈneːɡɐ]. Neuner is at rank #49,119, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɔɪ̯nɐ].

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 61470, this pair ranks #748,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Neger vs Neuner

Shared letters: enr. Private to "Neger": g. Private to "Neuner": u.

"Neger" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Neuner" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Neger ← neegr · negerr · negger · negre · ngeer · nneger
  • Neuner ← enuner · nenuer · neuenr · neunerr · neunner · neunre · nneuner · nuener

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Neger" for "Neuner" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈneːɡɐ] versus [ˈnɔɪ̯nɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Neger" vs "Neuner" - which ranks higher?
"Neger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,351 in our German list, against #49,119 for "Neuner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Neger" and "Neuner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Neger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Neuner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #748,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Neger" and "Neuner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Neuner vs neunter". 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 #748,574 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