nanvsniniWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: nan is a intj, nini is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nan” is an intj and “nini” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,862
“nan” frequency rank
#48,685
“nini” frequency rank
52547
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nan nini
Definition Variante de non (utilisé en tant que réponse à une question fermée ou un ordre). Jeune personne qui a choisi de ne pas étudier, ni de travailler.

Where the eye mixes nan and nini

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
nan
4 ch
nini

Look-alike desk: nan vs nini

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nan is \nɑ̃\ while nini is \ni.ni\. 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 (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nan is recorded at frequency rank #3,862, classified as anintj, pronounced \nɑ̃\. nini is at rank #48,685, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ni.ni\.

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 52547, this pair ranks #146,990 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nan vs nini

Shared letters: n. Private to "nan": a. Private to "nini": i.

"nan" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nini" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • niniinni · niin · ninni · nnii · nnini

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nan" for "nini" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nan" is an intj and "nini" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nan" or "nini"?
"nan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,862 in our French list, against #48,685 for "nini". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nini" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #146,990 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nan" and "nini" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nini vs nis". 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 #146,990 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list