nettvsnutWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nett is a adjective, nut is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#1,706
“nett” frequency rank
#36,531
“nut” frequency rank
38237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nett nut
Definition lieb, liebenswürdig, angenehm 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nuten

Where the eye mixes nett and nut

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

4 ch
nett
3 ch
nut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nett is [nɛt] while nut is [nuːt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nett is recorded at frequency rank #1,706, classified as anadj, pronounced [nɛt]. nut is at rank #36,531, tagged as averb, pronounced [nuːt].

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 38237, this pair ranks #1,569,202 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nett vs nut

Shared letters: nt. Private to "nett": e. Private to "nut": u.

"nett" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "nut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nettentt · nnett · ntet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nett" and "nut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nett" is an adjective and "nut" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nett" or "nut"?
"nett" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,706 in our German list, against #36,531 for "nut". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "nett" and "nut". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nett" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,569,202 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nett" and "nut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nox vs nut". 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