nés vs nis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#4,785
“nés” frequency rank: #49,821
“nis” frequency rank: 54606
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nés	nis
Definition	Masculin pluriel de né.	Participe actif présent du verbe ní (« se déplacer »).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nés and nis apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

nés

3 ch

nis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nés is \ne\ while nis is \nis\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - é in “nés” becomes i in “nis”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54606, 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\. 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 54606, this pair ranks #132,897 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nés vs nis

Shared letters: ns. Private to "nés": é. Private to "nis": i.

"nés" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

nés#4,785

nis#49,821

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

Which is more common, "nés" or "nis"?

"nés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,785 in our French list, against #49,821 for "nis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering nés vs nis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “nés”; for a verb, it's “nis”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nés” entry
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