Which to use
“nabo” and “nação” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,387
- “nabo” frequency rank
- #2,246
- “nação” frequency rank
- 40633
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nabo | nação |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | planta herbácea da espécie Brassica rapa, de raiz carnuda, branca, arredondada ou pontiaguda com variedades muito cultivadas para a alimentação | grupo de pessoas, com um mesmo governo e localizado num determinado espaço geográfico |
Where the eye mixes nabo and nação
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. nabo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against nação's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between nabo and nação
A purely visual mix-up. nabo (/ˈna.bu/) and nação (/nɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nabo is recorded at frequency rank #38,387, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈna.bu/. nação is at rank #2,246, tagged as anoun, pronounced /nɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 40633, this pair ranks #25,431 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nabo vs nação
Shared letters: ano. Private to "nabo": b. Private to "nação": ãç.
"nabo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "nação" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- nabo ← anbo · nabbo · naob · nbao · nnabo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nabo" for "nação" ever safe?
Which is more common, "nabo" or "nação"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "nabo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nação" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,431 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nabo" and "nação" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nabo vs nami". 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 #25,431 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.