nixvsnorWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: nix is a pronoun, nor is a particle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nix” is a pronoun and “nor” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,087
“nix” frequency rank
#26,554
“nor” frequency rank
27641
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nix nor
Definition nichts verschliffene Floskel für die eingeschobene, rhetorische Frage „Gelt es?“, „Gilt es?“, „Habe ich recht?“ oder „Nicht wahr?“, „Stimmt es?“, um sich der (vorausgesetzten) Zustimmung zu versichern. Die Frage wird nicht oder nur mit der gleichen Floskel beantwortet.

Letter map: nix vs nor

Shared letters muted; letters that set nix and nor apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
nix
3 ch
nor

Part-of-speech tell for nix / nor

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nix is apronoun and noraparticle. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nix is recorded at frequency rank #1,087, classified as apron, pronounced [nɪks]. nor is at rank #26,554, tagged as aparticle, 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 27641, this pair ranks #1,798,431 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nix vs nor

Shared letters: n. Private to "nix": ix. Private to "nor": or.

"nix" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nor" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nix" for "nor" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nix" is a pronoun and "nor" a particle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nix" or "nor"?
"nix" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,087 in our German list, against #26,554 for "nor". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "nix" and "nor". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nix" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,798,431 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nix" and "nor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nor vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,798,431 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