Which to use
“nam” is a pronoun and “nem” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,396
- “nam” frequency rank
- #121
- “nem” frequency rank
- 18517
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nam | nem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | caso dativo do pronome pessoal my | não |
Letter map: nam vs nem
Shared letters muted; letters that set nam and nem apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Part-of-speech tell for nam / nem
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nam is apronoun and nemanadverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “nam” becomes e in “nem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nam is recorded at frequency rank #18,396, classified as apron. nem is at rank #121, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈnɐ̃j̃/.
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 18517, this pair ranks #52,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nam vs nem
Shared letters: mn. Private to "nam": a. Private to "nem": e.
"nam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "nam" and "nem" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "nam" or "nem" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "nam" vs "nem" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "nam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nam" and "nem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nam vs nami". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #52,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.