nie vs nis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#8,277
“nie” frequency rank: #49,821
“nis” frequency rank: 58098
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nie	nis
Definition	Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de nier.	Participe actif présent du verbe ní (« se déplacer »).

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

nie

3 ch

nis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. nie (\ni\) and nis (\nis\) 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 a single letter - e in “nie” becomes s in “nis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nie is recorded at frequency rank #8,277, classified as averb, pronounced \ni\. 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 58098, this pair ranks #111,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nie vs nis

Shared letters: in. Private to "nie": e. Private to "nis": s.

"nie" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

nie#8,277

nis#49,821

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No. They are said differently (\ni\ versus \nis\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

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

"nie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,277 in our French list, against #49,821 for "nis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nie vs nis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nie” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable