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na

German, interjection

na is spelled N-A (2 letters) and appears 141 times per million words in written German, the 622nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Na is a German interjection meaning “well!, so!; used to introduce a statement” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, Naß is a different word: “alternative form of Nass”. With an umlaut, nä is a different word: “alternative form of nein (“no”)”.

What does na mean in English?

interjection

  1. 1

    well!, so!; used to introduce a statement

    Na, dann fangen wir mal an!

  2. 2

    oh, hm, huh, och, nu; expressing a (usually mild) degree of surprise, doubt, or frustration

    Na, das ist ja nett, dass ihr vorbeikommt!

  3. 3

    huh?; used as a question marker, often implying that the speaker knows the answer

    Was ist zwei plus drei? Na?

  4. 4

    hey!, hi!; used as a greeting, but with an interrogative intonation, as if saying “So? You see me there?”, or “So? How is everything?”

    Na! Lang nicht gesehen!

interjection

  1. 1

    Austriaalternative form of nein (“no”)

    Na. Das geht net.

noun

as Naß
  1. 1

    neuteralternative form of Nass

interjection

as nä
  1. 1

    colloquialalternative form of nein (“no”)

Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How German dictionaries define it

particle: 1. ein sehr nuancierter, kontextabhängiger, floskelhafter Ausdruck der Zustimmung, der Überraschung, der Verwunderung, des Zweifels, der Skepsis, der Ablehnung, der Ungeduld, des Ärgers, der sanften Drohung, der Ermahnung, der Entrüstung, der Missbilligung; er dient weiterhin der Schaffung einer Denkpause oder Gesprächspause, um die Aufmerksamkeit, die Spannung zu erhöhen oder das Nachfolgende heraus 2. vor Fragen und/oder Antworten 3. für Anreden gegenüber Gleichgestellten, Gleichrangigen, Untergeordneten 4. für eine differenzierte Zustimmung, Duldung, Bestätigung

The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.

Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of na

  • Nasses genitive
  • Nasse dative singular

Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

English words that translate to na

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is na in German?

na appears 141 times per million words in written German.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

What to look up after na