nice vs nis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nice” is an adjective and “nis” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,962
“nice” frequency rank: #49,821
“nis” frequency rank: 51783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nice	nis
Definition	Qui est simple, candide, innocent.	Participe actif présent du verbe ní (« se déplacer »).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nice and nis apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

nice

3 ch

nis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: nice and nis carry the same recorded pronunciation, \nis\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nice is recorded at frequency rank #1,962, classified as anadj, pronounced \nis\. nis is at rank #49,821, tagged as averb, pronounced \nis\.

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 51783, this pair ranks #152,514 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nice vs nis

Shared letters: in. Private to "nice": ce. Private to "nis": s.

"nice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

nice ← ince · ncie · nicce · niec · nnice

Frequency comparison

nice#1,962

nis#49,821

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nice" and "nis" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nice" is an adjective and "nis" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nice" or "nis"?

"nice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,962 in our French list, against #49,821 for "nis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering nice vs nis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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