nur vs ny, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nur” is a particle and “ny” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40
“nur” frequency rank: #20,687
“ny” frequency rank: 20727
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nur	ny
Definition	generell: unterstreicht die Betonung oder Einschränkung der Satzteilaussage	neu

Where the eye mixes nur and ny

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

3 ch

nur

2 ch

Visual trap between nur and ny

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nur is [nuːɐ̯] while ny is [nyː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (particle vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nur is recorded at frequency rank #40, classified as aparticle, pronounced [nuːɐ̯]. ny is at rank #20,687, tagged as anadj, pronounced [nyː].

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 20727, this pair ranks #1,894,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nur vs ny

Shared letters: n. Private to "nur": ru. Private to "ny": y.

"nur" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ny" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nur" and "ny" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nur" is a particle and "ny" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "nur" vs "ny" - which ranks higher?

"nur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40 in our German list, against #20,687 for "ny". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "nur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ny" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,894,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"nur" and "ny" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagy vs ny". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,894,435 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.