nennenvsNonneWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#1,065
“nennen” frequency rank
#17,999
“Nonne” frequency rank
19064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nennen Nonne
Definition jemandem oder etwas einen Namen geben Mitglied eines Frauenordens

Where the eye mixes nennen and Nonne

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

6 ch
nennen
5 ch
Nonne

Why the eye confuses nennen with Nonne

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nennen is [ˈnɛnən] while Nonne is [ˈnɔnə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19064, 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]. Nonne is at rank #17,999, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɔnə].

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 19064, this pair ranks #1,912,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nennen vs Nonne

Shared letters: en. Private to "nennen": -. Private to "Nonne": o.

"nennen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Nonne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nennen ← ennnen · nenen · nenenn · nennenn · nennne · nnenen · nnennen
  • Nonne ← nnone · nnonne · nonen · onnne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nennen" for "Nonne" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nennen" is a verb and "Nonne" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "nennen" vs "Nonne" - which ranks higher?
"nennen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,065 in our German list, against #17,999 for "Nonne". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nennen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nonne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,912,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nennen" and "Nonne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "node vs Nonne". 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 #1,912,179 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