ñavsnuiTell them apart

Which to use

“ña” and “nui” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,220
“ña” frequency rank
#48,561
“nui” frequency rank
90781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ña nui
Definition Fórmula de respeto coloquial, usada casi exclusivamente como vocativo o prefijada al nombre Grande

Where the eye mixes ña and nui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. No shared run - shape, not overlap, is the trap. ña runs 2 letters (CV) against nui's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

2 ch
ña
3 ch
nui

Visual trap between ña and nui

A purely visual mix-up. ña ([ˈɲa]) and nui ([ˈnu.i]) 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 90781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ña is recorded at frequency rank #42,220, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɲa]. nui is at rank #48,561, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnu.i].

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 90781, this pair ranks #2,322 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ña vs nui

Shared letters: none. Private to "ña": añ. Private to "nui": inu.

"ña" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "nui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ña" and "nui" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɲa] versus [ˈnu.i]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ña" or "nui"?
"ña" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,220 in our Spanish list, against #48,561 for "nui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ña" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,322 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ña" and "nui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nox vs nui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #2,322 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list