neivsneinWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nei is a verb, nein is a particle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nei” is a verb and “nein” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,309
“nei” frequency rank
#281
“nein” frequency rank
38590
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nei nein
Definition verneinen, negieren, abstreiten Partikel, die Ablehnung, Verneinung, Negation, Widerspruch bekundet, gewöhnlich auf eine Frage

Letter map: nei vs nein

Shared letters muted; letters that set nei and nein apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
nei
4 ch
nein

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nei is averb and neinaparticle. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “nei” sits inside “nein”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nei is recorded at frequency rank #38,309, classified as averb, pronounced […]. 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 38590, this pair ranks #1,559,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nei vs nein

Shared letters: ein. Private to "nei": -. Private to "nein": -.

"nei" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "nein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neinenin · neinn · neni · nien · nnein

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nei" and "nein" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nei" is a verb and "nein" a particle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nei" or "nein"?
"nein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #281 in our German list, against #38,309 for "nei". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list