noch vs noir, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#36
“noch” frequency rank: #23,251
“noir” frequency rank: 23287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	noch	noir
Definition	des Weiteren	schwarze Farbe

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set noch and noir apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

noch

4 ch

noir

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: noch is [nɔx] while noir is [nwaːR]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

noch is recorded at frequency rank #36, classified as anadv, pronounced [nɔx]. noir is at rank #23,251, tagged as anoun, pronounced [nwaːR].

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 23287, this pair ranks #1,863,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of noch vs noir

Shared letters: no. Private to "noch": ch. Private to "noir": ir.

"noch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "noir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

noch ← ncoh · nnoch · nocch · nochh · nohc · onch
noir ← nior · nnoir · noirr · nori · onir

Frequency comparison

noch#36

noir#23,251

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "noch" and "noir" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "noch" is an adverb and "noir" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "noch" or "noir"?

"noch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36 in our German list, against #23,251 for "noir". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering noch vs noir

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “noch”; for a noun, it's “noir”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “noch” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable