nad vs nur, What's the Difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nad and nur apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

nad

3 ch

nur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

nad#33,954

nur#35,702

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nad" and "nur" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nad" is a preposition and "nur" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nad" or "nur"?

"nad" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,954 in our Portuguese list, against #35,702 for "nur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nad vs nur

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “nad”; for an adverb, it's “nur”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nad” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable