nisvsnuitsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nis is a verb, nuits is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#49,821
“nis” frequency rank
#3,627
“nuits” frequency rank
53448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nis nuits
Definition Participe actif présent du verbe ní (« se déplacer »). Pluriel de nuit.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nis and nuits apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
nis
5 ch
nuits

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nis is \nis\ while nuits is \nɥi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53448, 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\. nuits is at rank #3,627, tagged as anoun, pronounced \nɥi\.

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 53448, this pair ranks #140,665 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nis vs nuits

Shared letters: ins. Private to "nis": -. Private to "nuits": tu.

"nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nuits" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nuitsniuts · nnuits · nuist · nuitss · nuitts · nutis · units

Frequency comparison

nis#49,821
nuits#3,627

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nis" and "nuits" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nis" is a verb and "nuits" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nis" or "nuits"?
"nuits" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,627 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 nis vs nuits

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list