Which to use
“nei” is a verb and “now” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,309
- “nei” frequency rank
- #6,570
- “now” frequency rank
- 44879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nei | now |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | verneinen, negieren, abstreiten | in diesem Moment; jetzt; gerade |
Letter map: nei vs now
Shared letters muted; letters that set nei and now apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for nei / now
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nei is averb and nowanadverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nei is recorded at frequency rank #38,309, classified as averb, pronounced […]. now is at rank #6,570, tagged as anadv, pronounced [naʊ].
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 44879, this pair ranks #1,371,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nei vs now
Shared letters: n. Private to "nei": ei. Private to "now": ow.
"nei" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "now" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nei" for "now" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "nei" or "now" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "nei" and "now".
- Full dictionary entry for "nei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "now" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,371,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nei" and "now" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nei vs puzzles". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,371,694 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.