neuervsneunterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: neuer is a adjective, neunter is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“neuer” is an adjective and “neunter” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#835
“neuer” frequency rank
#37,109
“neunter” frequency rank
37944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neuer neunter
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs neu unbestimmte männliche Deklination von neunte

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set neuer and neunter apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
neuer
7 ch
neunter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: neuer is [ˈnɔɪ̯ɐ] while neunter is [ˈnɔɪ̯ntɐ]. 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 (adjective vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neuer is recorded at frequency rank #835, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɔɪ̯ɐ]. neunter is at rank #37,109, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈnɔɪ̯ntɐ].

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 37944, this pair ranks #1,576,995 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of neuer vs neunter

Shared letters: enru. Private to "neuer": -. Private to "neunter": t.

"neuer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "neunter" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neuerenuer · neeur · neuerr · neure · nneuer · nueer
  • neunterenunter · nenuter · neunetr · neunnter · neunterr · neuntre · neuntter · neutner

Frequency comparison

neuer#835
neunter#37,109

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "neuer" and "neunter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "neuer" is an adjective and "neunter" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "neuer" or "neunter"?
"neuer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #835 in our German list, against #37,109 for "neunter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering neuer vs neunter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list