nn vs non, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#24,303
“nn” frequency rank: #82
“non” frequency rank: 24385
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nn	non
Definition	Ne pas.	Réponse négative. Il marque le désaccord sur une question affirmative et l’accord sur une question négative.

Where the eye mixes nn and non

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch

3 ch

non

Visual trap between nn and non

A purely visual mix-up. nn (\ˈnon\) and non (\nɔ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24385, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nn is recorded at frequency rank #24,303, classified as anadv, pronounced \ˈnon\. non is at rank #82, tagged as anadv, pronounced \nɔ̃\.

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 24385, this pair ranks #346,909 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nn vs non

Shared letters: n. Private to "nn": -. Private to "non": o.

"nn" · 2 letters · shape CC · "non" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nn" and "non" mean the same thing in a sentence?

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

Which is more common, "nn" or "non"?

"non" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #82 in our French list, against #24,303 for "nn". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

Full dictionary entry for "nn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "non" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #346,909 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"nn" and "non" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nn vs nop". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #346,909 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.