nedvsnisWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,347
“ned” frequency rank
#49,821
“nis” frequency rank
72168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ned nis
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent du verbe né. Participe actif présent du verbe ní (« se déplacer »).

Where the eye mixes ned and nis

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

3 ch
ned
3 ch
nis

Why the eye confuses ned with nis

A purely visual mix-up. ned (\nɛd\) and nis (\nis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ned is recorded at frequency rank #22,347, classified as averb, pronounced \nɛd\. 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 72168, this pair ranks #44,972 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ned vs nis

Shared letters: n. Private to "ned": de. Private to "nis": is.

"ned" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ned" and "nis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\nɛd\ versus \nis\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ned" or "nis"?
"ned" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,347 in our French list, against #49,821 for "nis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ned" 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 #44,972 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ned" and "nis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nis vs nop". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #44,972 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