neivsnettWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#38,309
“nei” frequency rank
#1,706
“nett” frequency rank
40015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nei nett
Definition verneinen, negieren, abstreiten lieb, liebenswürdig, angenehm

Letter map: nei vs nett

Shared letters muted; letters that set nei and nett apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
nei
4 ch
nett

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nei is averb and nettanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nei is recorded at frequency rank #38,309, classified as averb, pronounced […]. nett is at rank #1,706, tagged as anadj, pronounced [nɛt].

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 40015, this pair ranks #1,520,409 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nei vs nett

Shared letters: en. Private to "nei": i. Private to "nett": t.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nettentt · nnett · ntet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nei" and "nett" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nei" is a verb and "nett" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nei" or "nett"?
"nett" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,706 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.

What to do next

You've compared "nei" and "nett". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nett" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,520,409 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nei" and "nett" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nei vs puzzles". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list