nãovsndWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: não is a adverb, nd is a character, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“não” is an adverb and “nd” is a character - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,506
“não” frequency rank
#19,504
“nd” frequency rank
61010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature não nd
Definition No. Decimoséptima letra del achegety o alfabeto guaraní.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set não and nd apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
não
2 ch
nd

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: não is [nɐ̃w] while nd is /ˈⁿde/. 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 (adverb vs character), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

não is recorded at frequency rank #41,506, classified as anadv, pronounced [nɐ̃w]. nd is at rank #19,504, tagged as acharacter, pronounced /ˈⁿde/.

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 61010, this pair ranks #56,940 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of não vs nd

Shared letters: n. Private to "não": . Private to "nd": d.

"não" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "nd" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequency comparison

não#41,506
nd#19,504

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "não" and "nd" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "não" is an adverb and "nd" a character, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "não" or "nd"?
"nd" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,504 in our Spanish list, against #41,506 for "não". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering não vs nd

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “não”; for a character, it's “nd”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “não” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list