noxvsnunWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nox is a noun, nun is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#46,886
“nox” frequency rank
#130
“nun” frequency rank
47016
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nox nun
Definition die Nacht zu diesem Zeitpunkt, zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt, in dem Moment

Where the eye mixes nox and nun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
nox
3 ch
nun

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nox is [nɔks] while nun is [nuːn]. 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nox is recorded at frequency rank #46,886, classified as anoun, pronounced [nɔks]. 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 47016, this pair ranks #1,299,117 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nox vs nun

Shared letters: n. Private to "nox": ox. Private to "nun": u.

"nox" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nox" and "nun" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nox" is a noun and "nun" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nox" or "nun"?
"nun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #130 in our German list, against #46,886 for "nox". 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 "nox" and "nun". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nox" 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 #1,299,117 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nox" and "nun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "node vs nox". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list