Which to use
“nic” is a pronoun and “nickt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,733
- “nic” frequency rank
- #24,055
- “nickt” frequency rank
- 57788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nic | nickt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nichts | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nicken |
Where the eye mixes nic and nickt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses nic with nickt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nic is [ɲit͡s] while nickt is [nɪkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “nic” sits inside “nickt”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nic is recorded at frequency rank #33,733, classified as apron, pronounced [ɲit͡s]. nickt is at rank #24,055, tagged as averb, pronounced [nɪkt].
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 57788, this pair ranks #887,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nic vs nickt
Shared letters: cin. Private to "nic": -. Private to "nickt": kt.
"nic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nickt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nickt ← inckt · ncikt · nicckt · nickkt · nicktt · nictk · nikct · nnickt
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "nic" and "nickt" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "nic" or "nickt" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "nic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nickt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #887,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nic" and "nickt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nic vs nox". 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 #887,780 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.