nitvsnuiTell them apart

Which to use

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

#39,353
“nit” frequency rank
#48,561
“nui” frequency rank
87914
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nit nui
Definition Noche. Grande

Where the eye mixes nit and nui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
nit
3 ch
nui

Why the eye confuses nit with nui

A purely visual mix-up. nit ([ˈnit]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nit is recorded at frequency rank #39,353, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnit]. 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 87914, this pair ranks #4,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nit vs nui

Shared letters: in. Private to "nit": t. Private to "nui": u.

"nit" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nit" and "nui" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnit] versus [ˈnu.i]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nit" or "nui"?
"nit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,353 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 "nit" 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 #4,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nit" and "nui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nox vs nui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #4,151 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