NGOsvsnousWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: NGOs is a noun, nous is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“NGOs” is a noun and “nous” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,250
“NGOs” frequency rank
#37,704
“nous” frequency rank
60954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature NGOs nous
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs NGO wir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set NGOs and nous apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
NGOs
4 ch
nous

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: NGOs is [ˌɛnd͡ʒiˈʔoʊs] while nous is [nu]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

NGOs is recorded at frequency rank #23,250, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˌɛnd͡ʒiˈʔoʊs]. nous is at rank #37,704, tagged as apron, pronounced [nu].

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 60954, this pair ranks #767,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of NGOs vs nous

Shared letters: nos. Private to "NGOs": g. Private to "nous": u.

"NGOs" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "nous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • NGOsgnos · nggos · ngoss · ngso · nngos · nogs
  • nousnnous · nosu · nouss · nuos · onus

Frequency comparison

NGOs#23,250
nous#37,704

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "NGOs" and "nous" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "NGOs" is a noun and "nous" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "NGOs" or "nous"?
"NGOs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,250 in our German list, against #37,704 for "nous". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering NGOs vs nous

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “NGOs”; for a pronoun, it's “nous”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “NGOs” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list