nesvsNeussWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: nes is a noun, Neuss is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nes” is a noun and “Neuss” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,778
“nes” frequency rank
#11,939
“Neuss” frequency rank
40717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nes Neuss
Definition Landspitze eine Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland

Letter map: nes vs Neuss

Shared letters muted; letters that set nes and Neuss apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
nes
5 ch
Neuss

Role in the sentence - nes and Neuss

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nes is anoun and Neussaname. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nes is recorded at frequency rank #28,778, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Neuss is at rank #11,939, tagged as aname, pronounced [nɔɪ̯s].

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 40717, this pair ranks #1,500,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nes vs Neuss

Shared letters: ens. Private to "nes": -. Private to "Neuss": u.

"nes" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Neuss" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Neussenuss · nesus · neus · neuß · nneuss · nuess

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nes" for "Neuss" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nes" is a noun and "Neuss" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nes" or "Neuss"?
"Neuss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,939 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

Pair "nes" vs "Neuss" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Neuss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,500,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nes" and "Neuss" 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 #1,500,435 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