ninevsnitWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“nine” and “nit” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,708
“nine” frequency rank
#39,353
“nit” frequency rank
76061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nine nit
Definition Palabra clave radiofónica del ICAO y NATO para la cifra 9. Noche.

Where the eye mixes nine and nit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
nine
3 ch
nit

Look-alike desk: nine vs nit

A purely visual mix-up. nine ([ˈnai̯na]) and nit ([ˈnit]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nine is recorded at frequency rank #36,708, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnai̯na]. nit is at rank #39,353, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnit].

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 76061, this pair ranks #18,379 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nine vs nit

Shared letters: in. Private to "nine": e. Private to "nit": t.

"nine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "nit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nineinne · nien · ninne · nnie · nnine

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nine" for "nit" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnai̯na] versus [ˈnit]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nine" or "nit"?
"nine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,708 in our Spanish list, against #39,353 for "nit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,379 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nine" and "nit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nit vs nox". 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 #18,379 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list