non vs nun, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#5,204
“non” frequency rank: #130
“nun” frequency rank: 5334
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	non	nun
Definition	nicht	zu diesem Zeitpunkt, zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt, in dem Moment

Letter map: non vs nun

Shared letters muted; letters that set non and nun apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch

non

3 ch

nun

Pair insight - non / nun

non and nun are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - o in “non” becomes u in “nun”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5334, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

non is recorded at frequency rank #5,204, classified as anadv, pronounced […]. nun is at rank #130, tagged as anadv, pronounced [nuːn].

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 5334, this pair ranks #1,995,086 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of non vs nun

Shared letters: n. Private to "non": o. Private to "nun": u.

"non" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "non" for "nun" ever safe?

No. They differ by a single letter - o in “non” becomes u in “nun”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "non" or "nun"?

"nun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #130 in our German list, against #5,204 for "non". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "non" and "nun".

Full dictionary entry for "non" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "nun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,995,086 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"non" and "nun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "non vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,995,086 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.