nom vs nomás, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nom” is a noun and “nomás” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,915
“nom” frequency rank: #9,690
“nomás” frequency rank: 28605
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nom	nomás
Definition	Nombre.	Tan solo, solamente, solo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nom and nomás apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

nom

5 ch

nomás

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nom is [ˈnom] while nomás is [noˈmas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “nom” sits inside “nomás”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nom is recorded at frequency rank #18,915, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnom]. nomás is at rank #9,690, tagged as anadv, pronounced [noˈmas].

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 28605, this pair ranks #221,184 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nom vs nomás

Shared letters: mno. Private to "nom": -. Private to "nomás": sá.

"nom" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nomás" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequency comparison

nom#18,915

nomás#9,690

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nom" and "nomás" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nom" is a noun and "nomás" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nom" or "nomás"?

"nomás" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,690 in our Spanish list, against #18,915 for "nom". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nom vs nomás

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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