nés vs ni, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nés” is an adjective and “ni” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,785
“nés” frequency rank: #274
“ni” frequency rank: 5059
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nés	ni
Definition	Masculin pluriel de né.	Conjonction de coordination négative qui correspond à et affirmatif.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nés and ni apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

nés

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nés is \ne\ while ni is \ni\. 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 (adjective vs conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nés is recorded at frequency rank #4,785, classified as anadj, pronounced \ne\. ni is at rank #274, tagged as aconj, pronounced \ni\.

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 5059, this pair ranks #430,021 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nés vs ni

Shared letters: n. Private to "nés": sé. Private to "ni": i.

"nés" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ni" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

nés#4,785

ni#274

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nés" and "ni" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nés" is an adjective and "ni" a conjunction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nés" or "ni"?

"ni" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #274 in our French list, against #4,785 for "nés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering nés vs ni

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “nés”; for a conjunction, it's “ni”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nés” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable