Which to use
“nad” is a preposition and “nur” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,954
- “nad” frequency rank
- #35,702
- “nur” frequency rank
- 69656
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nad | nur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | em cima, acima de | apenas, somente, meramente |
Where the eye mixes nad and nur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. nad and nur follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses nad with nur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nad is /ˈnat/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while nur is /nuːɐ̯/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69656, 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 ?). nur is at rank #35,702, tagged as anadv, pronounced /nuːɐ̯/.
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 69656, this pair ranks #3,885 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of nad vs nur
Shared letters: n. Private to "nad": ad. Private to "nur": ru.
"nad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nad" for "nur" ever safe?
Frequency check: "nad" vs "nur" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "nad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,885 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nad" and "nur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nad vs nadie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #3,885 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.