Which to use
“ne” is a particle and “nis” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30
- “ne” frequency rank
- #49,821
- “nis” frequency rank
- 49851
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ne | nis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Négation. Première partie d’un morphème en général à double forme encadrant le verbe et certains pronoms. Parfois appelé discordantiel, ne est complété d’un forclusif : pas, plus, jamais, point, personne, rien, aucun, nul, etc., ou de formules archaïsantes : goutte, mie, mais (n’en pouvoir mais). | Participe actif présent du verbe ní (« se déplacer »). |
Where the eye mixes ne and nis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ne with nis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ne is \nə\ 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 (particle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ne is recorded at frequency rank #30, classified as aparticle, pronounced \nə\. 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 49851, this pair ranks #167,385 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ne vs nis
Shared letters: n. Private to "ne": e. Private to "nis": is.
"ne" · 2 letters · shape CV · "nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ne" for "nis" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ne" or "nis"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ne" 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 #167,385 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ne" and "nis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nis vs nop". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #167,385 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.