neigenvsneigtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,766
“neigen” frequency rank
#12,548
“neigt” frequency rank
25314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neigen neigt
Definition in Schräglage geraten; schräg werden 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs neigen

Where the eye mixes neigen and neigt

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

6 ch
neigen
5 ch
neigt

Look-alike desk: neigen vs neigt

A purely visual mix-up. neigen ([ˈnaɪ̯ɡn̩]) and neigt ([naɪ̯kt]) 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 25314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neigen is recorded at frequency rank #12,766, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaɪ̯ɡn̩]. neigt is at rank #12,548, tagged as averb, pronounced [naɪ̯kt].

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 25314, this pair ranks #1,835,133 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of neigen vs neigt

Shared letters: egin. Private to "neigen": -. Private to "neigt": t.

"neigen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "neigt" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neigen ← enigen · negien · neiegn · neigenn · neiggen · neigne · niegen · nneigen
  • neigt ← enigt · negit · neiggt · neigtt · neitg · niegt · nneigt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "neigen" and "neigt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaɪ̯ɡn̩] versus [naɪ̯kt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "neigen" or "neigt"?
"neigt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,548 in our German list, against #12,766 for "neigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "neigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "neigt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,835,133 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "neigen" and "neigt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs neigen". 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 #1,835,133 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