nei vs nov, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#38,309
“nei” frequency rank: #11,490
“nov” frequency rank: 49799
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nei	nov
Definition	verneinen, negieren, abstreiten	noch nicht lange existierend oder vorhanden; neu

Letter map: nei vs nov

Shared letters muted; letters that set nei and nov apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. nei (CVV) and nov (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch

nei

3 ch

nov

Grammar separator: nei vs nov

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nei is averb and novanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nei is recorded at frequency rank #38,309, classified as averb, pronounced […]. nov is at rank #11,490, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɔv].

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 49799, this pair ranks #1,197,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nei vs nov

Shared letters: n. Private to "nei": ei. Private to "nov": ov.

"nei" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "nov" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nei" and "nov" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nei" is a verb and "nov" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary German text, does "nei" or "nov" show up more?

"nov" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,490 in our German list, against #38,309 for "nei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "nei" vs "nov" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "nei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "nov" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,197,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"nei" and "nov" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nei vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,197,975 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.