nanavsninjaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“nana” and “ninja” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,116
“nana” frequency rank
#12,205
“ninja” frequency rank
18321
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nana ninja
Definition Femme (parfois péjoratif). Espion japonais. Dans les œuvres de fiction, ils et elles sont plus souvent représenté vêtu de noir, une cagoule masquant son visage, accomplissant des exploits physiques en combat, des acrobaties, et expert dans les techniques de diversion.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nana and ninja apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
nana
5 ch
ninja

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. nana (\na.na\) and ninja (\nin.dʒa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18321, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nana is recorded at frequency rank #6,116, classified as anoun, pronounced \na.na\. ninja is at rank #12,205, tagged as anoun, pronounced \nin.dʒa\.

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 18321, this pair ranks #378,912 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nana vs ninja

Shared letters: an. Private to "nana": -. Private to "ninja": ij.

"nana" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "ninja" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nananaan · nanna · nnaa · nnana
  • ninjainnja · nijna · ninaj · ninjja · ninnja · nnija · nninja

Frequency comparison

nana#6,116
ninja#12,205

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nana" and "ninja" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\na.na\ versus \nin.dʒa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nana" or "ninja"?
"nana" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,116 in our French list, against #12,205 for "ninja". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nana vs ninja

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nana” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list