Which to use
“neu” is an adjective and “ng” is a character - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,394
- “neu” frequency rank
- #30,276
- “ng” frequency rank
- 70670
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | neu | ng |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nouveau. | Dix-huitième lettre de l’alphabet guarani (minuscule). |
Where the eye mixes neu and ng
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. neu runs 3 letters (CVV) against ng's 2 (CC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: neu vs ng
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: neu is \nɔɪ̯\ while ng is \ᵑɡ\. 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 character), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
neu is recorded at frequency rank #40,394, classified as anadj, pronounced \nɔɪ̯\. ng is at rank #30,276, tagged as acharacter, pronounced \ᵑɡ\.
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 70670, this pair ranks #50,475 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of neu vs ng
Shared letters: n. Private to "neu": eu. Private to "ng": g.
"neu" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "ng" · 2 letters · shape CC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "neu" for "ng" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "neu" or "ng" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "neu" and "ng" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "neu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ng" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,475 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "neu" and "ng" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "neu vs nop". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #50,475 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.