Which to use
“not” is an adverb and “nous” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23
- “not” frequency rank
- #29,396
- “nous” frequency rank
- 29419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | not | nous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Negates the meaning of the modified verb. | The mind or intellect, reason, both rational and emotional. |
Where the eye mixes not and nous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between not and nous
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: not is /nɒt/ while nous is /naʊs/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
not is recorded at frequency rank #23, classified as anadv, pronounced /nɒt/. nous is at rank #29,396, tagged as anoun, pronounced /naʊs/.
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 29419, this pair ranks #363,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of not vs nous
Shared letters: no. Private to "not": t. Private to "nous": su.
"not" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nous ← nnous · nosu · nouss · nuos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "not" for "nous" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "not" or "nous" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "not" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "not" and "nous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nooks vs nous". 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 #363,168 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.