nervigvsnervigenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,244
“nervig” frequency rank
#30,702
“nervigen” frequency rank
39946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nervig nervigen
Definition sehnig, kräftig, kraftvoll, stark, zäh; „den Eindruck angespannter Kraft vermittelnd“ Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs nervig

Where the eye mixes nervig and nervigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. nervig runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against nervigen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
nervig
8 ch
nervigen

Why the eye confuses nervig with nervigen

A purely visual mix-up. nervig ([ˈnɛʁfɪç]) and nervigen ([ˈnɛʁfɪɡn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “nervig” sits inside “nervigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nervig is recorded at frequency rank #9,244, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɛʁfɪç]. 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 39946, this pair ranks #1,522,384 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nervig vs nervigen

Shared letters: eginrv. Private to "nervig": -. Private to "nervigen": -.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nervig ← enrvig · nerivg · nerrvig · nervgi · nervigg · nervvig · nevrig · nnervig
  • nervigen ← enrvigen · nerivgen · nerrvigen · nervgien · nerviegn · nervigenn · nerviggen · nervigne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nervig" and "nervigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnɛʁfɪç] versus [ˈnɛʁfɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nervig" or "nervigen"?
"nervig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,244 in our German list, against #30,702 for "nervigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "nervig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nervigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,522,384 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nervig" and "nervigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nervig 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 #1,522,384 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