nimmervsNummerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nimmer is a adverb, Nummer is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nimmer” is an adverb and “Nummer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,784
“nimmer” frequency rank
#1,089
“Nummer” frequency rank
10873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nimmer Nummer
Definition zu keiner Zeit, niemals einem (nummerierten) Gegenstand oder einer (nummerierten) Person zugeordnete Zahl, die die Position in einer Reihenfolge ausdrückt (logisch eine Ordnungszahl, sprachlich aber eine Kardinalzahl)

Where the eye mixes nimmer and Nummer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. nimmer and Nummer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
nimmer
6 ch
Nummer

Visual trap between nimmer and Nummer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nimmer is [ˈnɪmɐ] while Nummer is [ˈnʊmɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “nimmer” becomes u in “Nummer”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nimmer is recorded at frequency rank #9,784, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈnɪmɐ]. Nummer is at rank #1,089, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnʊmɐ].

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 10873, this pair ranks #1,972,879 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nimmer vs Nummer

Shared letters: emnr. Private to "nimmer": i. Private to "Nummer": u.

"nimmer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Nummer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nimmer ← inmmer · nimemr · nimer · nimmerr · nimmre · nmimer · nnimmer
  • Nummer ← nmumer · nnummer · numemr · numer · nummerr · nummre · unmmer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nimmer" for "Nummer" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nimmer" is an adverb and "Nummer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nimmer" or "Nummer"?
"Nummer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,089 in our German list, against #9,784 for "nimmer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nimmer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nummer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,972,879 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nimmer" and "Nummer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "numbers vs Nummer". 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 #1,972,879 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