nah vs nei, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nah” is an adjective and “nei” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,820
“nah” frequency rank: #27,191
“nei” frequency rank: 54011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nah	nei
Definition	perto	negar

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

nah

3 ch

nei

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nah is /naː/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while nei is /ˈnɛ.i/.. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nah is recorded at frequency rank #26,820, classified as anadj, pronounced /naː/ ouvir^(fonte ?). nei is at rank #27,191, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈnɛ.i/..

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 54011, this pair ranks #11,621 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nah vs nei

Shared letters: n. Private to "nah": ah. Private to "nei": ei.

"nah" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nei" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

nah#26,820

nei#27,191

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nah" and "nei" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nah" is an adjective and "nei" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nah" or "nei"?

"nah" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,820 in our Portuguese list, against #27,191 for "nei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nah vs nei

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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