Which to use
“não” is an adverb and “novo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,506
- “não” frequency rank
- #28,091
- “novo” frequency rank
- 69597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | não | novo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | No. | Nuevo. |
Where the eye mixes não and novo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: não vs novo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: não is [nɐ̃w] while novo is [ˈnoβ̞o]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69597, 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]. novo is at rank #28,091, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnoβ̞o].
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 69597, this pair ranks #31,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of não vs novo
Shared letters: no. Private to "não": ã. Private to "novo": v.
"não" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "novo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- novo ← nnovo · nobo · noov · novvo · nvoo · onvo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "não" and "novo" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "não" or "novo"?
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 "não" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "novo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "não" and "novo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "não vs nox". 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 #31,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.