neigevsnötigeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“neige” and “nötige” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,249
“neige” frequency rank
#6,698
“nötige” frequency rank
29947
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neige nötige
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs neigen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nötigen

Where the eye mixes neige and nötige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. neige runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against nötige's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
neige
6 ch
nötige

Why the eye confuses neige with nötige

A purely visual mix-up. neige ([ˈnaɪ̯ɡə]) and nötige ([ˈnøːtɪɡə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neige is recorded at frequency rank #23,249, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaɪ̯ɡə]. nötige is at rank #6,698, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnøːtɪɡə].

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 29947, this pair ranks #1,757,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of neige vs nötige

Shared letters: egin. Private to "neige": -. Private to "nötige": tö.

"neige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "nötige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neige ← enige · negie · neieg · neigge · niege · nneige

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "neige" and "nötige" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaɪ̯ɡə] versus [ˈnøːtɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "neige" or "nötige" show up more?
"nötige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,698 in our German list, against #23,249 for "neige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "neige" and "nötige" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "neige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nötige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,757,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "neige" and "nötige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "neige vs nerve". 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 #1,757,243 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list