NGOvsnicWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: NGO is a abbrev, nic is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“NGO” is an abbrev and “nic” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,644
“NGO” frequency rank
#33,733
“nic” frequency rank
57377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature NGO nic
Definition in den unterschiedlichsten zivilgesellschaftlichen Bereichen tätige regierungsunabhängige Organisation nichts

Where the eye mixes NGO and nic

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. NGO (CCV) and nic (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
NGO
3 ch
nic

Visual trap between NGO and nic

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: NGO is [ˌɛnd͡ʒiˈʔoʊ] while nic is [ɲit͡s]. 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 (abbrev vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

NGO is recorded at frequency rank #23,644, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ˌɛnd͡ʒiˈʔoʊ]. nic is at rank #33,733, tagged as apron, pronounced [ɲit͡s].

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 57377, this pair ranks #903,715 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of NGO vs nic

Shared letters: n. Private to "NGO": go. Private to "nic": ci.

"NGO" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "nic" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "NGO" and "nic" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "NGO" is an abbrev and "nic" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "NGO" or "nic" show up more?
"NGO" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,644 in our German list, against #33,733 for "nic". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "NGO" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #903,715 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "NGO" and "nic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nic vs nox". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #903,715 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