nous

\nu\

/\nu\/ pron

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“nous” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #50. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#50
frequency rank, French
1,563
“N” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pronom de la première personne du pluriel, incluant le locuteur ainsi que d’autres personnes au nom de qui il parle, utilisable en sujet, en complément d’objet, ou en tant que pronom tonique pour m...

Corpus desk

Index FR-nous · nous · French

nous · rank #50 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #50
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,563
  • PHOTO-FINISH fait

Nearest frequency peer: fait (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “nous”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “nous” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

nous vs nu
50% similar
nous vs NS
0% similar
nous vs nul
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for nous
PropertyValue
Headwordnous
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPronoun
IPA\nu\
Letters4
Frequency rank#50
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “nous” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.nousse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « fait » (#49), « comme » (#51), « tout » (#48). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around nous (IPA \nu\), apronoun. Corpus frequency is #50 among 1,563 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for nous, with forms such as "nnous", "nosu", and "nouss". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "nu", "NS", "nul", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is nous, spelled N-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pronom de la première personne du pluriel, incluant le locuteur ainsi que d’autres personnes au nom de qui il parle, utilisable en sujet, en complément d’objet, ou en tant que pronom tonique pour marquer l’insistance sur la personne.
  2. 2
    Se dit souvent pour désigner une collectivité dont fait partie la personne qui parle, qu’il s’agisse de l’humanité, d’un pays, d’une province, d’une famille, ou encore de gens ayant en commun des idées, des croyances, une formation, des habitudes, etc.
  3. 3
    S’emploie aussi quelquefois, dans le registre familier, au lieu du pronom personnel il ou elle.
  4. 4
    À l’époque des rois, remplaçait le singulier je ou moi dans les lois, dans les ordonnances, etc.
  5. 5
    Pronom personnel sujet de la deuxième personne du singulier, tu.
  6. 6
    Dans les romans, essais, travaux universitaires, remplace les pronoms je, me, moi pour désigner l'auteur du texte (voir nous de modestie).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how nous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Mais il disait JE, quand sa maîtresse, folle, éperdue, disait NOUS !
  2. Nous sommes là, vous nous entendez ? Nos petits coups répétés dans les murs vous avertissent de notre présence. Nous. Qui nous ? Vos pareils. Chacun seul, enfermé comme vous.

Synonyms

on

This word in other languages

we(English)nosotros(Español)wir(Deutsch)nós(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nnous
  • nosu
  • nouss
  • nuos
  • onus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nous - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

nnous1nosu2nouss1nuos2onus2
Edit distance from "nous"

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

How do you spell "nous"?
"nous" is spelled N-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is \nu\.
What does "nous" mean?
As a pronoun, "nous" means: Pronom de la première personne du pluriel, incluant le locuteur ainsi que d’autres personnes au nom de qui il parle, utilisable en sujet, en complément d’objet, ou en tant que pronom tonique pour m...
What words are commonly confused with "nous"?
"nous" is commonly confused with "nu", "NS", "nul". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nous" is \nu\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nous" come from?
"nous" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nous", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fait#49tout#48bien#53sont#47

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

cette5 variantsvous5 variantsavec5 variantspeut5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "nous". Here's where to go from here.

  • "nous" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "nu". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #50 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "N" letter cohort. N–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list