Which to use
“nick” and “nickte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,745
- “nick” frequency rank
- #25,687
- “nickte” frequency rank
- 31432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nick | nickte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nicken | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs nicken |
Where the eye mixes nick and nickte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: nick vs nickte
A purely visual mix-up. nick ([nɪk]) and nickte ([ˈnɪktə]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “nick” sits inside “nickte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nick is recorded at frequency rank #5,745, classified as averb, pronounced [nɪk]. nickte is at rank #25,687, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnɪktə].
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 31432, this pair ranks #1,728,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nick vs nickte
Shared letters: cikn. Private to "nick": -. Private to "nickte": et.
"nick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "nickte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "nick" and "nickte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "nick" or "nickte"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "nick" and "nickte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nickte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,728,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nick" and "nickte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nichten vs nickte". 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 #1,728,203 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.