Which to use
“nous” is a pronoun and “now” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,704
- “nous” frequency rank
- #6,570
- “now” frequency rank
- 44274
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nous | now |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wir | in diesem Moment; jetzt; gerade |
Where the eye mixes nous and now
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between nous and now
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nous is [nu] while now is [naʊ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nous is recorded at frequency rank #37,704, classified as apron, pronounced [nu]. now is at rank #6,570, tagged as anadv, pronounced [naʊ].
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 44274, this pair ranks #1,391,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nous vs now
Shared letters: no. Private to "nous": su. Private to "now": w.
"nous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "now" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nous ← nnous · nosu · nouss · nuos · onus
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nous" for "now" ever safe?
Frequency check: "nous" vs "now" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "nous" and "now" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nous" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "now" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,391,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nous" and "now" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nous 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 #1,391,475 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.