Which to use
“near” is an adjective and “negra” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,160
- “near” frequency rank
- #1,686
- “negra” frequency rank
- 50846
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | near | negra |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cercano, próximo. | Figura musical que vale un cuarto de la redonda, la mitad de la blanca y el doble de la corchea. Es representada con la cifra 4. |
Where the eye mixes near and negra
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. near runs 4 letters (CVVC) against negra's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses near with negra
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: near is /nɪə̯(ɹ)/ while negra is [ˈneɣ̞ɾa]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50846, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
near is recorded at frequency rank #49,160, classified as anadj, pronounced /nɪə̯(ɹ)/. negra is at rank #1,686, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈneɣ̞ɾa].
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 50846, this pair ranks #101,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of near vs negra
Shared letters: aenr. Private to "near": -. Private to "negra": g.
"near" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "negra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "near" and "negra" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "near" or "negra" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "near" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "negra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #101,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "near" and "negra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ñam vs near". 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 #101,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.