NüssenvsNuttenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,707
“Nüssen” frequency rank
#12,770
“Nutten” frequency rank
50477
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nüssen Nutten
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Nuss Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Nutte

Where the eye mixes Nüssen and Nutten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Nüssen and Nutten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Nüssen
6 ch
Nutten

Look-alike desk: Nüssen vs Nutten

A purely visual mix-up. Nüssen ([ˈnʏsn̩]) and Nutten ([ˈnʊtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nüssen is recorded at frequency rank #37,707, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnʏsn̩]. Nutten is at rank #12,770, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnʊtn̩].

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 50477, this pair ranks #1,172,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Nüssen vs Nutten

Shared letters: en. Private to "Nüssen": sü. Private to "Nutten": tu.

"Nüssen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Nutten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nutten ← nnutten · ntuten · nutetn · nuttenn · nuttne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Nüssen" for "Nutten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnʏsn̩] versus [ˈnʊtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Nüssen" or "Nutten" show up more?
"Nutten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,770 in our German list, against #37,707 for "Nüssen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nüssen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nutten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,172,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nüssen" and "Nutten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nasses vs Nüssen". 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 #1,172,243 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