Which to use
“neue” is an adjective and “nou” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,599
- “neue” frequency rank
- #18,545
- “nou” frequency rank
- 63144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | neue | nou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Accusatif pluriel (à tous les genres) de la déclinaison forte de neu. | Noix. |
Where the eye mixes neue and nou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: neue vs nou
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: neue is \ˈnɔɪ̯ə\ while nou is \ˈnɔw\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
neue is recorded at frequency rank #44,599, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈnɔɪ̯ə\. nou is at rank #18,545, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈnɔw\.
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 63144, this pair ranks #83,517 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of neue vs nou
Shared letters: nu. Private to "neue": e. Private to "nou": o.
"neue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "nou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- neue ← enue · neeu · nneue
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "neue" for "nou" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "neue" or "nou" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "neue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #83,517 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "neue" and "nou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "neue vs noués". 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 #83,517 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.