nerven vs nervigen, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nerven” is a verb and “nervigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,606
“nerven” frequency rank: #30,702
“nervigen” frequency rank: 33308
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nerven	nervigen
Definition	jemanden anhaltend belästigen, jemandem auf die Nerven gehen	Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs nervig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nerven and nervigen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

nerven

8 ch

nervigen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nerven is [ˈnɛʁfn̩] while nervigen is [ˈnɛʁfɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33308, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nerven is recorded at frequency rank #2,606, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnɛʁfn̩]. nervigen is at rank #30,702, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɛʁfɪɡn̩].

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 33308, this pair ranks #1,688,779 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nerven vs nervigen

Shared letters: enrv. Private to "nerven": -. Private to "nervigen": gi.

"nerven" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "nervigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

nerven ← enrven · nerevn · nerrven · nervenn · nervne · nervven · nevren · nnerven
nervigen ← enrvigen · nerivgen · nerrvigen · nervgien · nerviegn · nervigenn · nerviggen · nervigne

Frequency comparison

nerven#2,606

nervigen#30,702

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nerven" and "nervigen" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nerven" is a verb and "nervigen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nerven" or "nervigen"?

"nerven" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,606 in our German list, against #30,702 for "nervigen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering nerven vs nervigen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “nerven”; for an adjective, it's “nervigen”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nerven” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable