Which to use
“nerve” and “nerven” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,351
- “nerve” frequency rank
- #2,606
- “nerven” frequency rank
- 50957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nerve | nerven |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nerven | jemanden anhaltend belästigen, jemandem auf die Nerven gehen |
Where the eye mixes nerve and nerven
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses nerve with nerven
A purely visual mix-up. nerve ([ˈnɛʁfə]) and nerven ([ˈnɛʁfn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “nerve” sits inside “nerven”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nerve is recorded at frequency rank #48,351, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnɛʁfə]. nerven is at rank #2,606, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnɛʁfn̩].
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 50957, this pair ranks #1,153,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nerve vs nerven
Shared letters: enrv. Private to "nerve": -. Private to "nerven": -.
"nerve" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "nerven" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nerve" and "nerven" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "nerve" vs "nerven" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "nerve" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nerven" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,153,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nerve" and "nerven" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nerve vs Nervus". 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 #1,153,969 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.