nic vs nos, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nic” and “nos” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,733
“nic” frequency rank: #27,872
“nos” frequency rank: 61605
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nic	nos
Definition	nichts	für die 1. Person, Plural, Nominativ (Subjektfall); wir

Letter map: nic vs nos

Shared letters muted; letters that set nic and nos apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. nic and nos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch

nic

3 ch

nos

Corpus notes: nic and nos

nic and nos are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61605, 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]. nos is at rank #27,872, tagged as apron, pronounced […].

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 61605, this pair ranks #743,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nic vs nos

Shared letters: n. Private to "nic": ci. Private to "nos": os.

"nic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nic" for "nos" ever safe?

No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Frequency check: "nic" vs "nos" - which ranks higher?

"nos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,872 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

You've compared "nic" and "nos". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "nic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "nos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #743,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"nic" and "nos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nic vs nox". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #743,436 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.