NestvsneunWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Nest is a noun, neun is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Nest” is a noun and “neun” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,426
“Nest” frequency rank
#1,639
“neun” frequency rank
10065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nest neun
Definition Stätte der Aufzucht der Jungen und der Wohnort bestimmter Tiere (zum Beispiel der Vögel) die Kardinalzahl zwischen acht und zehn

Where the eye mixes Nest and neun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Nest
4 ch
neun

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Nest is [nɛst] while neun is [nɔɪ̯n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nest is recorded at frequency rank #8,426, classified as anoun, pronounced [nɛst]. neun is at rank #1,639, tagged as anum, pronounced [nɔɪ̯n].

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 10065, this pair ranks #1,976,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Nest vs neun

Shared letters: en. Private to "Nest": st. Private to "neun": u.

"Nest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "neun" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nestenst · nesst · nestt · nets · nnest · nset
  • neunenun · nenu · neunn · nneun · nuen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Nest" and "neun" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Nest" is a noun and "neun" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Nest" or "neun"?
"neun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,639 in our German list, against #8,426 for "Nest". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Nest" and "neun". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "neun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,976,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nest" and "neun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nervst vs Nest". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list