Which to use
“nées” and “nettes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,206
- “nées” frequency rank
- #18,543
- “nettes” frequency rank
- 30749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nées | nettes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de né. | Féminin pluriel de net. |
Where the eye mixes nées and nettes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. nées runs 4 letters (CVVC) against nettes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses nées with nettes
A purely visual mix-up. nées (\ne\) and nettes (\nɛt\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nées is recorded at frequency rank #12,206, classified as anadj, pronounced \ne\. nettes is at rank #18,543, tagged as anadj, pronounced \nɛt\.
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 30749, this pair ranks #308,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nées vs nettes
Shared letters: ens. Private to "nées": é. Private to "nettes": t.
"nées" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "nettes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nettes ← enttes · netes · netets · nettess · nettse · nnettes · ntetes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nées" for "nettes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "nées" or "nettes"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "nées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nettes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nées" and "nettes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "natte vs nettes". 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 #308,235 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.