NonnevsNonnenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,999
“Nonne” frequency rank
#18,000
“Nonnen” frequency rank
35999
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nonne Nonnen
Definition Mitglied eines Frauenordens Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Nonne

Where the eye mixes Nonne and Nonnen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Nonne runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Nonnen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Nonne
6 ch
Nonnen

Look-alike desk: Nonne vs Nonnen

A purely visual mix-up. Nonne ([ˈnɔnə]) and Nonnen ([ˈnɔnən]) 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) - “Nonne” sits inside “Nonnen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35999, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nonne is recorded at frequency rank #17,999, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɔnə]. Nonnen is at rank #18,000, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɔnən].

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 35999, this pair ranks #1,626,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Nonne vs Nonnen

Shared letters: eno. Private to "Nonne": -. Private to "Nonnen": -.

"Nonne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Nonnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nonne ← nnone · nnonne · nonen · onnne
  • Nonnen ← nnonen · nnonnen · nonenn · nonnenn · nonnne · onnnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Nonne" for "Nonnen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnɔnə] versus [ˈnɔnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Nonne" vs "Nonnen" - which ranks higher?
"Nonne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,999 in our German list, against #18,000 for "Nonnen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Nonne" and "Nonnen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nonne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nonnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,626,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nonne" and "Nonnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "node vs Nonne". 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 #1,626,473 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