na
/nɐ/
The verdict
“na” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #17) as a contraction. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #17
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 360
- “N” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - contração da preposição em com o artigo definido a:
Corpus desk
Index PT-na · na · Portuguese
na · rank #17 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #17
- LEN-SHORT 2 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 360
- PHOTO-FINISH se
Nearest frequency peer: se (-1 rank slots)
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “na”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- com
com
99,987 corpus weight
- no
no
99,986 corpus weight
- se
se
99,985 corpus weight
- na
na
99,984 corpus weight
- por
por
99,983 corpus weight
- os
os
99,982 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “na” sits against the nearest ranked Portuguese headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | na |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Contraction |
| IPA | /nɐ/ |
| Letters | 2 |
| Frequency rank | #17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “na” sits in Portuguese frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for na is neighbouring look-alikes ("no", "né", …), not just typos; it is acontraction pronounced /nɐ/. Frequency #17 among 360 “N” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for na, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Portuguese patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "no", "né", "nd", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Portuguese form is na, spelled N-A.
Definition
- 1contração da preposição em com o artigo definido a:
- 2contração da preposição em com o pronome demonstrativo a:
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how na appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Na terra de Asterix (e na de Hércules também).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "na"?
What does "na" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "na"?
How do you pronounce "na"?
What language does "na" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.