Which to use
“nail” is a noun and “nis” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,614
- “nail” frequency rank
- #49,821
- “nis” frequency rank
- 85435
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nail | nis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ongle. | Participe actif présent du verbe ní (« se déplacer »). |
Where the eye mixes nail and nis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. nail runs 4 letters (CVVC) against nis's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses nail with nis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nail is [neɪl] while nis is \nis\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nail is recorded at frequency rank #35,614, classified as anoun, pronounced [neɪl]. nis is at rank #49,821, tagged as averb, pronounced \nis\.
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 85435, this pair ranks #11,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of nail vs nis
Shared letters: in. Private to "nail": al. Private to "nis": s.
"nail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nail ← anil · naill · nali · nial · nnail
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nail" for "nis" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "nail" or "nis" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "nail" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nail" and "nis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nis vs nop". 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 #11,378 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.