Which to use
“nein” is a particle and “neun” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #281
- “nein” frequency rank
- #1,639
- “neun” frequency rank
- 1920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nein | neun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partikel, die Ablehnung, Verneinung, Negation, Widerspruch bekundet, gewöhnlich auf eine Frage | die Kardinalzahl zwischen acht und zehn |
Where the eye mixes nein and neun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nein is [naɪ̯n] while neun is [nɔɪ̯n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “nein” becomes u in “neun”, and the parts of speech differ too (particle vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nein is recorded at frequency rank #281, classified as aparticle, pronounced [naɪ̯n]. 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 1920, this pair ranks #2,003,467 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nein vs neun
Shared letters: en. Private to "nein": i. Private to "neun": u.
"nein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "neun" · 4 letters · shape CVVC