nicktvsnickteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,055
“nickt” frequency rank
#25,687
“nickte” frequency rank
49742
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nickt nickte
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nicken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs nicken

Where the eye mixes nickt and nickte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
nickt
6 ch
nickte

Why the eye confuses nickt with nickte

A purely visual mix-up. nickt ([nɪkt]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “nickt” sits inside “nickte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nickt is recorded at frequency rank #24,055, classified as averb, pronounced [nɪkt]. 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 49742, this pair ranks #1,200,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nickt vs nickte

Shared letters: ciknt. Private to "nickt": -. Private to "nickte": e.

"nickt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "nickte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nicktinckt · ncikt · nicckt · nickkt · nicktt · nictk · nikct · nnickt
  • nickteinckte · ncikte · nicckte · nicket · nickkte · nicktte · nictke · nikcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nickt" and "nickte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([nɪkt] versus [ˈnɪktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "nickt" or "nickte" show up more?
"nickt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,055 in our German list, against #25,687 for "nickte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nickt" 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 #1,200,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nickt" and "nickte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "neck vs nickt". 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 #1,200,000 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