Which to use
“não” is an adverb and “nulo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11
- “não” frequency rank
- #18,400
- “nulo” frequency rank
- 18411
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | não | nulo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | usado para negar verbos e adjetivos | que não existe |
Where the eye mixes não and nulo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: não vs nulo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: não is /ˈnɐ̃w̃/ while nulo is /ˈnu.lu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
não is recorded at frequency rank #11, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈnɐ̃w̃/. nulo is at rank #18,400, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈnu.lu/.
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 18411, this pair ranks #52,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of não vs nulo
Shared letters: no. Private to "não": ã. Private to "nulo": lu.
"não" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "nulo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- nulo ← nluo · nnulo · nullo · nuol · unlo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "não" and "nulo" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "não" vs "nulo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "não" and "nulo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "não" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nulo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "não" and "nulo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "null vs nulo". 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 #52,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.