neigesvsnuagesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,882
“neiges” frequency rank
#5,267
“nuages” frequency rank
15149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neiges nuages
Definition Pluriel de neige. Pluriel de nuage.

Where the eye mixes neiges and nuages

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
neiges
6 ch
nuages

Why the eye confuses neiges with nuages

A purely visual mix-up. neiges (\nɛʒ\) and nuages (\nɥaʒ\) 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 15149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neiges is recorded at frequency rank #9,882, classified as anoun, pronounced \nɛʒ\. nuages is at rank #5,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced \nɥaʒ\.

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 15149, this pair ranks #393,641 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of neiges vs nuages

Shared letters: egns. Private to "neiges": i. Private to "nuages": au.

"neiges" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "nuages" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neigeseniges · negies · neiegs · neigess · neigges · neigse · nieges · nneiges
  • nuagesnauges · nnuages · nuaegs · nuagess · nuagges · nuagse · nugaes · unages

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "neiges" and "nuages" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\nɛʒ\ versus \nɥaʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "neiges" vs "nuages" - which ranks higher?
"nuages" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,267 in our French list, against #9,882 for "neiges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "neiges" and "nuages" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "neiges" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nuages" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #393,641 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "neiges" and "nuages" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "naïves vs neiges". 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 #393,641 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