neuvesvsnuesTell them apart

Which to use

“neuves” and “nues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,219
“neuves” frequency rank
#9,205
“nues” frequency rank
22424
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neuves nues
Definition Féminin pluriel de neuf. Féminin pluriel de nu.

Where the eye mixes neuves and nues

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
neuves
4 ch
nues

Visual trap between neuves and nues

A purely visual mix-up. neuves (\nœv\) and nues (\ny\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22424, 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\. nues is at rank #9,205, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ny\.

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 22424, this pair ranks #358,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of neuves vs nues

Shared letters: ensu. Private to "neuves": v. Private to "nues": -.

"neuves" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "nues" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neuvesenuves · neuevs · neuvess · neuvse · neuvves · nevues · nneuves · nueves
  • nuesneus · nnues · nuess · nuse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "neuves" for "nues" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\nœv\ versus \ny\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "neuves" vs "nues" - which ranks higher?
"nues" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,205 in our French list, against #13,219 for "neuves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "nues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #358,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "neuves" and "nues" 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 #358,043 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list