nanvsnomWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#3,862
“nan” frequency rank
#214
“nom” frequency rank
4076
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nan nom
Definition Variante de non (utilisé en tant que réponse à une question fermée ou un ordre). Mot ou groupe de mots permettant de nommer un être ou une chose. Un nom peut être un nom commun, une locution nominale ou un nom propre.

Where the eye mixes nan and nom

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
nan
3 ch
nom

Look-alike desk: nan vs nom

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nan is \nɑ̃\ while nom is \nɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4076, 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\. nom is at rank #214, tagged as anoun, 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 4076, this pair ranks #432,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nan vs nom

Shared letters: n. Private to "nan": a. Private to "nom": mo.

"nan" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nom" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nan" and "nom" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nan" is an intj and "nom" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "nan" vs "nom" - which ranks higher?
"nom" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #214 in our French list, against #3,862 for "nan". 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 "nom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #432,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nan" and "nom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nan vs nop". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #432,527 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