Which to use
“não” is an adverb and “noo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,506
- “não” frequency rank
- #30,595
- “noo” frequency rank
- 72101
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | não | noo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | No. | Noh. |
Where the eye mixes não and noo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. não and noo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: não vs noo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: não is [nɐ̃w] while noo is [ˈnoo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - ã in “não” becomes o in “noo”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72101, 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]. noo is at rank #30,595, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnoo].
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 72101, this pair ranks #26,109 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of não vs noo
Shared letters: no. Private to "não": ã. Private to "noo": -.
"não" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "noo" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "não" and "noo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "não" vs "noo" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "não" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "noo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,109 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "não" and "noo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "não vs nox". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #26,109 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.