nennenvsNennerWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: nennen is a verb, Nenner is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nennen” is a verb and “Nenner” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,065
“nennen” frequency rank
#21,007
“Nenner” frequency rank
22072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nennen Nenner
Definition jemandem oder etwas einen Namen geben im gemeinen Bruch die Zahl (oder der algebraische Ausdruck) unter dem Bruchstrich

Where the eye mixes nennen and Nenner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. nennen and Nenner follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
nennen
6 ch
Nenner

Look-alike desk: nennen vs Nenner

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nennen is [ˈnɛnən] while Nenner is [ˈnɛnɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “nennen” becomes r in “Nenner”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nennen is recorded at frequency rank #1,065, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnɛnən]. Nenner is at rank #21,007, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛnɐ].

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 22072, this pair ranks #1,878,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nennen vs Nenner

Shared letters: en. Private to "nennen": -. Private to "Nenner": r.

"nennen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Nenner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nennen ← ennnen · nenen · nenenn · nennenn · nennne · nnenen · nnennen
  • Nenner ← ennner · nenenr · nener · nennerr · nennre · nnener · nnenner

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nennen" and "Nenner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nennen" is a verb and "Nenner" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nennen" or "Nenner"?
"nennen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,065 in our German list, against #21,007 for "Nenner". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nennen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nenner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,878,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nennen" and "Nenner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nenner vs Neuner". 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 #1,878,686 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