nem

/ˈnɐ̃j̃/

//ˈnɐ̃j̃// adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“nem” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #121) as an adverb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#121
frequency rank, Portuguese
360
“N” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - não

Corpus desk

Index PT-nem · nem · Portuguese

nem · rank #121 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #121
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 360
  • PHOTO-FINISH então

Nearest frequency peer: então (-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.

Vizinhos de frequência do confusável “nem”

Pares de peso semelhante no corpus, aparte dos confusáveis abaixo

corpus weight

What this shows As barras situam “nem” face aos lemas portugueses mais próximos por rank, não um reprint da secretária de confusáveis.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

nem vs no
33% similar
nem vs nu
33% similar
nem vs ni
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for nem
PropertyValue
Headwordnem
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/ˈnɐ̃j̃/
Letters3
Frequency rank#121
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rank de corpus junto a confusáveis de “nem”

Da esquerda para a direita: o pouco que carrega a fala diária, depois a cauda longa quase invisível.nemcai aqui:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

A escala é logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× mais rara). Na mesma faixa de raridade aparecem “então” (#120), “tão” (#119), “sei” (#118). Entre 360 lemas com “N”, “nem” fica em #121. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for nem is neighbouring look-alikes ("no", "nu", …), not just typos; it is anadverb pronounced /ˈnɐ̃j̃/. Frequency #121 among 360 “N” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

nem doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular Portuguese conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "no", "nu", "ni", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Portuguese form is nem, spelled N-E-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    não
  2. 2
    não até ao menos

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how nem appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Mas nem tente fazer algo do tipo.

Synonyms

sequer

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nem"?
"nem" is spelled N-E-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈnɐ̃j̃/.
What does "nem" mean?
As an adverb, "nem" means: não
What words are commonly confused with "nem"?
"nem" is commonly confused with "no", "nu", "ni". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nem"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nem" is /ˈnɐ̃j̃/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nem" come from?
"nem" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nem", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tão#119sei#118mim#113sou#106

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list