nu vs nul, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,697
“nu” frequency rank: #1,417
“nul” frequency rank: 5114
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nu	nul
Definition	Qui n’a pas de vêtements, qui est dévêtu.	Égal à zéro, en parlant d’un nombre, d’une grandeur ou d’une valeur.

Where the eye mixes nu and nul

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

2 ch

3 ch

nul

Why the eye confuses nu with nul

A purely visual mix-up. nu (\ny\) and nul (\nyl\) 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 extra letter(s) - “nu” sits inside “nul”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nu is recorded at frequency rank #3,697, classified as anadj, pronounced \ny\. nul is at rank #1,417, tagged as anadj, pronounced \nyl\.

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 5114, this pair ranks #429,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nu vs nul

Shared letters: nu. Private to "nu": -. Private to "nul": l.

"nu" · 2 letters · shape CV · "nul" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nu" and "nul" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "nu" or "nul"?

"nul" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,417 in our French list, against #3,697 for "nu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "nu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "nul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #429,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"nu" and "nul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nop vs nu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #429,862 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.