Which to use
“nel” is a preposition and “neun” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,183
- “nel” frequency rank
- #1,639
- “neun” frequency rank
- 33822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nel | neun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Verschmelzung der Präposition in mit dem bestimmten Artikel il | die Kardinalzahl zwischen acht und zehn |
Where the eye mixes nel and neun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. nel runs 3 letters (CVC) against neun's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between nel and neun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nel is [nel] while neun is [nɔɪ̯n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nel is recorded at frequency rank #32,183, classified as aprep, pronounced [nel]. 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 33822, this pair ranks #1,677,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nel vs neun
Shared letters: en. Private to "nel": l. Private to "neun": u.
"nel" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "neun" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- neun ← enun · nenu · neunn · nneun · nuen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nel" for "neun" ever safe?
Frequency check: "nel" vs "neun" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "nel" and "neun" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nel" 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 #1,677,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nel" and "neun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nel vs nox". 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 #1,677,310 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.