Which to use
“non” is an adverb and “nylon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #82
- “non” frequency rank
- #32,090
- “nylon” frequency rank
- 32172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | non | nylon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Réponse négative. Il marque le désaccord sur une question affirmative et l’accord sur une question négative. | Matière plastique de type polyamide inventée par Wallace Carothers. |
Where the eye mixes non and nylon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses non with nylon
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: non is \nɔ̃\ while nylon is \ni.lɔ̃\. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
non is recorded at frequency rank #82, classified as anadv, pronounced \nɔ̃\. nylon is at rank #32,090, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ni.lɔ̃\.
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 32172, this pair ranks #299,024 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of non vs nylon
Shared letters: no. Private to "non": -. Private to "nylon": ly.
"non" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nylon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nylon ← nlyon · nnylon · nyllon · nylno · nylonn · nyoln · nyylon · ynlon
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "non" and "nylon" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "non" or "nylon"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "non" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nylon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #299,024 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "non" and "nylon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ninon vs nylon". 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 #299,024 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.