knew
\ˈnu\
The verdict
“knew” is uncommon French (frequency #57,363 among 110,375 “K” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,363
- frequency rank, French
- 110,375
- “K” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Prétérit de know.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | knew |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \ˈnu\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #57,363 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “knew” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
knew is uncommon French at frequency #57,363 among 110,375 “K” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \ˈnu\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Prétérit de know.".
knew has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is knew, spelled K-N-E-W.
Definition
- 1Prétérit de know.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “knew”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is K-N-E-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ˈnu\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Other uncommon French words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.