nollvsnousWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#43,379
“noll” frequency rank
#37,704
“nous” frequency rank
81083
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature noll nous
Definition null wir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set noll and nous apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
noll
4 ch
nous

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: noll is [nɔl] 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 (num vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

noll is recorded at frequency rank #43,379, classified as anum, pronounced [nɔl]. 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 81083, this pair ranks #182,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of noll vs nous

Shared letters: no. Private to "noll": l. Private to "nous": su.

"noll" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "nous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nollnlol · nnoll · nol · onll
  • nousnnous · nosu · nouss · nuos · onus

Frequency comparison

noll#43,379
nous#37,704

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "noll" and "nous" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "noll" is a num and "nous" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "noll" or "nous"?
"nous" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,704 in our German list, against #43,379 for "noll". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering noll vs nous

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a num, it's “noll”; for a pronoun, it's “nous”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “noll” 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