Which to use
“nau” is a noun and “nur” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,867
- “nau” frequency rank
- #35,702
- “nur” frequency rank
- 53569
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nau | nur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | grande embarcação de guerra ou mercante, de tipo antigo | apenas, somente, meramente |
Where the eye mixes nau and nur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. nau (CVV) and nur (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: nau vs nur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nau is /ˈnaw/ 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nau is recorded at frequency rank #17,867, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈnaw/. 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 53569, this pair ranks #11,943 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of nau vs nur
Shared letters: nu. Private to "nau": a. Private to "nur": r.
"nau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "nur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nau" for "nur" ever safe?
Frequency check: "nau" vs "nur" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "nau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,943 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nau" and "nur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nauru vs nur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #11,943 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.