nehmevsneueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nehme is a verb, neue is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nehme” is a verb and “neue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,674
“nehme” frequency rank
#156
“neue” frequency rank
1830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nehme neue
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nehmen Nominativ Singular Femininum des Adjektivs neu

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nehme and neue apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
nehme
4 ch
neue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nehme is [ˈneːmə] while neue is [ˈnɔɪ̯ə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nehme is recorded at frequency rank #1,674, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈneːmə]. neue is at rank #156, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɔɪ̯ə].

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 1830, this pair ranks #2,003,643 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nehme vs neue

Shared letters: en. Private to "nehme": hm. Private to "neue": u.

"nehme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "neue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nehmeenhme · nehem · nehhme · nehmme · nemhe · nheme · nnehme
  • neueenue · neeu · nneue · nuee

Frequency comparison

nehme#1,674
neue#156

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nehme" and "neue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nehme" is a verb and "neue" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nehme" or "neue"?
"neue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #156 in our German list, against #1,674 for "nehme". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering nehme vs neue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “nehme”; for an adjective, it's “neue”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nehme” 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