Which to use
“Neid” is a noun and “neun” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,600
- “Neid” frequency rank
- #1,639
- “neun” frequency rank
- 11239
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Neid | neun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der intensive negative Gefühlszustand von Menschen, wenn sie den Besitz, Erfolg, den körperlichen Vorzug oder das Glück eines anderen beobachten können, das sie nicht haben, aber ihm missgönnen. | die Kardinalzahl zwischen acht und zehn |
Where the eye mixes Neid and neun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Neid and neun follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Neid with neun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Neid is [naɪ̯t] while neun is [nɔɪ̯n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Neid is recorded at frequency rank #9,600, classified as anoun, pronounced [naɪ̯t]. neun is at rank #1,639, tagged as anum, pronounced [nɔɪ̯n].
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 11239, this pair ranks #1,970,915 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Neid vs neun
Shared letters: en. Private to "Neid": di. Private to "neun": u.
"Neid" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "neun" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Neid" and "neun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Neid" or "neun"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Neid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "neun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,970,915 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Neid" and "neun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "neck vs Neid". 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
Confusion rank #1,970,915 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.