NerdvsnesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,343
“Nerd” frequency rank
#28,778
“nes” frequency rank
47121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nerd nes
Definition Person, die sich besonders mit Computern oder anderen Bereichen aus Wissenschaft und Technik beschäftigt, deren soziale Kompetenzen aber entweder schwach ausgeprägt sind oder diesen Eindruck zumindest erwecken Landspitze

Letter map: Nerd vs nes

Shared letters muted; letters that set Nerd and nes apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
Nerd
3 ch
nes

Corpus notes: Nerd and nes

Nerd and nes are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nerd is recorded at frequency rank #18,343, classified as anoun, pronounced [nœːɐ̯t]. nes is at rank #28,778, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 47121, this pair ranks #1,295,451 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Nerd vs nes

Shared letters: en. Private to "Nerd": dr. Private to "nes": s.

"Nerd" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "nes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nerdenrd · nedr · nerdd · nerrd · nnerd · nred

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Nerd" for "nes" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "Nerd" or "nes"?
"Nerd" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,343 in our German list, against #28,778 for "nes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Nerd" and "nes".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nerd" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,295,451 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nerd" and "nes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nes vs puzzles". 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 #1,295,451 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