Which to use
“nis” is a verb and “nous” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,821
- “nis” frequency rank
- #50
- “nous” frequency rank
- 49871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nis | nous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe actif présent du verbe ní (« se déplacer »). | Pronom de la première personne du pluriel, incluant le locuteur ainsi que d’autres personnes au nom de qui il parle, utilisable en sujet, en complément d’objet, ou en tant que pronom tonique pour marquer l’insistance sur la personne. |
Where the eye mixes nis and nous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. nis runs 3 letters (CVC) against nous's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: nis vs nous
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nis is \nis\ while nous is \nu\. 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 (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nis is recorded at frequency rank #49,821, classified as averb, pronounced \nis\. nous is at rank #50, tagged as apron, pronounced \nu\.
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 49871, this pair ranks #167,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nis vs nous
Shared letters: ns. Private to "nis": i. Private to "nous": ou.
"nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nous ← nnous · nosu · nouss · nuos · onus
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "nis" and "nous" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "nis" or "nous" 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 "nis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #167,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nis" and "nous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nis vs nop". 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 #167,235 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.