Which to use
“nous” is a pronoun and “noyés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #50
- “nous” frequency rank
- #22,352
- “noyés” frequency rank
- 22402
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nous | noyés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Masculin pluriel de noyé. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nous and noyés apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nous is \nu\ while noyés is \nwa.je\. 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 (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22402, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nous is recorded at frequency rank #50, classified as apron, pronounced \nu\. noyés is at rank #22,352, tagged as anadj, pronounced \nwa.je\.
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 22402, this pair ranks #358,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nous vs noyés
Shared letters: nos. Private to "nous": u. Private to "noyés": yé.
"nous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "noyés" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nous ← nnous · nosu · nouss · nuos · onus
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "nous" and "noyés" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "nous" or "noyés"?
Remembering nous vs noyés
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “nous”; for an adjective, it's “noyés”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nous” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable