Which to use
“nich” and “nicht” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,760
- “nich” frequency rank
- #8
- “nicht” frequency rank
- 3768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nich | nicht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht | Partikel, die die Verneinung, die Negierung beziehungsweise die Negation ausdrückt |
Where the eye mixes nich and nicht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. nich ([nɪç]) and nicht ([nɪçt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “nich” sits inside “nicht”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nich is recorded at frequency rank #3,760, classified as aparticle, pronounced [nɪç]. nicht is at rank #8, tagged as aparticle, pronounced [nɪçt].
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 3768, this pair ranks #1,999,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nich vs nicht
Shared letters: chin. Private to "nich": -. Private to "nicht": t.
"nich" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "nicht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC