Which to use
“neuves” is an adjective and “neveu” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,219
- “neuves” frequency rank
- #6,000
- “neveu” frequency rank
- 19219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | neuves | neveu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de neuf. | ou Petit-fils. |
Where the eye mixes neuves and neveu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. neuves runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against neveu's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between neuves and neveu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: neuves is \nœv\ while neveu is \nə.vø\. 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 19219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
neuves is recorded at frequency rank #13,219, classified as anadj, pronounced \nœv\. neveu is at rank #6,000, tagged as anoun, pronounced \nə.vø\.
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 19219, this pair ranks #374,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of neuves vs neveu
Shared letters: enuv. Private to "neuves": s. Private to "neveu": -.
"neuves" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "neveu" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "neuves" and "neveu" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "neuves" or "neveu" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "neuves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "neveu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #374,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "neuves" and "neveu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "neuves 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 #374,346 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.