Which to use
“nam” is a conjunction and “non” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,014
- “nam” frequency rank
- #82
- “non” frequency rank
- 13096
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nam | non |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Car. | Réponse négative. Il marque le désaccord sur une question affirmative et l’accord sur une question négative. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nam and non apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
nam and non form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nam is recorded at frequency rank #13,014, classified as aconj, pronounced \ˈnam\. non is at rank #82, tagged as anadv, pronounced \nɔ̃\.
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 13096, this pair ranks #402,458 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "nam" and "non" be used interchangeably?
Remembering nam vs non
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a conjunction, it's “nam”; for an adverb, it's “non”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nam” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable