NuttenvsnutzenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Nutten is a noun, nutzen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Nutten” is a noun and “nutzen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,770
“Nutten” frequency rank
#798
“nutzen” frequency rank
13568
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nutten nutzen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Nutte etwas gebrauchen oder zu Hilfe nehmen, um ein Ziel zu erreichen; etwas in Anspruch nehmen

Where the eye mixes Nutten and nutzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Nutten
6 ch
nutzen

Why the eye confuses Nutten with nutzen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Nutten is [ˈnʊtn̩] while nutzen is [ˈnʊt͡sn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - t in “Nutten” becomes z in “nutzen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13568, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nutten is recorded at frequency rank #12,770, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnʊtn̩]. nutzen is at rank #798, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnʊt͡sn̩].

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 13568, this pair ranks #1,957,148 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Nutten vs nutzen

Shared letters: entu. Private to "Nutten": -. Private to "nutzen": z.

"Nutten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "nutzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nuttennnutten · ntuten · nutetn · nuttenn · nuttne
  • nutzennnutzen · ntuzen · nutezn · nuttzen · nutzenn · nutzne · nutzzen · nuzten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Nutten" and "nutzen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Nutten" is a noun and "nutzen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Nutten" vs "nutzen" - which ranks higher?
"nutzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #798 in our German list, against #12,770 for "Nutten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nutten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nutzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,957,148 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nutten" and "nutzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nüssen vs Nutten". 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 #1,957,148 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