Which to use
“nada” is an adverb and “name” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #92
- “nada” frequency rank
- #8,931
- “name” frequency rank
- 9023
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nada | name |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | não | nome |
Where the eye mixes nada and name
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses nada with name
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nada is /ˈna.də/ while name is /neɪm/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nada is recorded at frequency rank #92, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈna.də/. name is at rank #8,931, tagged as anoun, pronounced /neɪm/.
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 9023, this pair ranks #64,552 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nada vs name
Shared letters: an. Private to "nada": d. Private to "name": em.
"nada" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "name" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nada" for "name" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "nada" or "name" show up more?
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 "nada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "name" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,552 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nada" and "name" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nadie vs name". 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 #64,552 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.