nulsvsnusWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,533
“nuls” frequency rank
#7,091
“nus” frequency rank
13624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nuls nus
Definition Masculin pluriel de nul. Masculin pluriel de nu.

Where the eye mixes nuls and nus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
nuls
3 ch
nus

Why the eye confuses nuls with nus

A purely visual mix-up. nuls (\nyl\) and nus (\ny\) 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 13624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nuls is recorded at frequency rank #6,533, classified as anadj, pronounced \nyl\. nus is at rank #7,091, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ny\.

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 13624, this pair ranks #400,237 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nuls vs nus

Shared letters: nsu. Private to "nuls": l. Private to "nus": -.

"nuls" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "nus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nulsnlus · nnuls · nulls · nulss · nusl · unls

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nuls" and "nus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\nyl\ versus \ny\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nuls" or "nus"?
"nuls" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,533 in our French list, against #7,091 for "nus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nuls" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #400,237 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nuls" and "nus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noués vs nus". 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 #400,237 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list