Which to use
“nad” is a preposition and “nam” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,954
- “nad” frequency rank
- #18,396
- “nam” frequency rank
- 52350
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nad | nam |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | em cima, acima de | caso dativo do pronome pessoal my |
Letter map: nad vs nam
Shared letters muted; letters that set nad and nam apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. nad and nam follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Grammar separator: nad vs nam
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nad is apreposition and namapronoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - d in “nad” becomes m in “nam”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nad is recorded at frequency rank #33,954, classified as aprep, pronounced /ˈnat/ ouvir^(fonte ?). nam is at rank #18,396, tagged as apron.
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 52350, this pair ranks #12,818 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of nad vs nam
Shared letters: an. Private to "nad": d. Private to "nam": m.
"nad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nam" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "nad" and "nam" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "nad" or "nam" show up more?
After this comparison
Pair "nad" vs "nam" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "nad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,818 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nad" and "nam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nad vs nadie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #12,818 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.