neuevsnuqueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: neue is a adjective, nuque is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“neue” is an adjective and “nuque” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,599
“neue” frequency rank
#11,626
“nuque” frequency rank
56225
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neue nuque
Definition Accusatif pluriel (à tous les genres) de la déclinaison forte de neu. Partie dorsale du cou.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set neue and nuque apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
neue
5 ch
nuque

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: neue is \ˈnɔɪ̯ə\ while nuque is \nyk\. 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 56225, 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\. nuque is at rank #11,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced \nyk\.

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 56225, this pair ranks #122,436 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of neue vs nuque

Shared letters: enu. Private to "neue": -. Private to "nuque": q.

"neue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "nuque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neueenue · neeu · nneue
  • nuquennuque · nquue · nuqeu · nuqque · nuuqe · unque

Frequency comparison

neue#44,599
nuque#11,626

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "neue" and "nuque" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "neue" is an adjective and "nuque" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "neue" or "nuque"?
"nuque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,626 in our French list, against #44,599 for "neue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering neue vs nuque

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list